When you are a Lightspeed Retail POS merchant who sets up their store to sell online with Lightspeed eCom, you need to add shipping options to deliver orders locally or around the globe. You can connect the most popular carriers in your country, or even shipping services of different countries if you run an international brand.
From the Online tab → Settings → Shipping & pickup page, you can create and manage deliveries, get live-time rates from the most popular carriers, customize shipping zones and their rates. This article covers shipping methods only, but you can also set up in-store pickup or create a local delivery.
Before you begin
Before you create your first shipping method, dive a little deeper into understanding how shipping works and what is the best shipping strategy for your business.
These articles will help you wrap your head around shipping:
- Understanding shipping, local delivery, and pickup in Lightspeed eCom →
- (For multi-outlet stores) Deciding on rules that apply to all delivery/pickup methods in your store →
Adding shipping methods in Lightspeed eCom
You create shipping methods from the Online tab → Settings → Shipping & Pickup page. Since there are a variety of options based on how you want to ship, how far, and for what price, there are no one-fit-it-all instructions. You can create as many shipping options as you want. Each one can have different rates, destination zones, and carriers.
To set up a shipping method in your Lightspeed eCom:
- From your POS, go to the Online tab → Settings → Shipping & Pickup.
- Click Add Shipping.
- Click the carrier company. If you don't see one that matches your requirements, enter a custom carrier name in the Other carriers field and click Set Up.
- Click on the rates you wish to go with. You can choose between live-rates (if available), free, conditional free, flat, and custom rates.
- In the Shipping name at checkout, enter the name that your customers will see at checkout.
- (For multi-outlet stores) In the Outlet associated with this shipping method, select what location and its stock level will be connected to this shipping method. In case you do not select any outlet, that method will take into account the inventory level of all outlets connected to Ecom and will always be available at checkout, even if you restrict other methods.
- Set up any rates if you have any.
- (optional) Click Add description for customers to provide any info you find relevant for this method.
- (optional) Click Limit availability by order subtotal to allow this method only for orders above a specific amount.
- (optional) Click Show estimated delivery date at checkout to display the estimated delivery date next to delivery options at checkout. A clearly stated delivery date lets customers understand when they can expect to receive their order, resulting in a higher number of successful sales.
- Click Set shipping region to specify the area you ship to. By default, the shipping method is worldwide.
- Click Save & Finish.
- (For multi-outlet stores) Click Back to go on the Shipping & pickup page. Scroll down and click Outlets’ availability for pickup, delivery, and shipping to decide on how to display shipping methods at checkout based on the stock levels of outlets they are associated with. Either limit shipping availability based on actual inventory, or allow shoppers to choose any shipping method as long as at least one outlet connected to eCom has items in stock.