Shipping Charges linked to Post Codes

[TonyM]

Hi all,

I have had a look through the various issues and discussions on this subject and not seen a definitive answer yet.

Is it possible to set the Shipping Charge in Actinic V9 based upon the customers' Post Codes ??

Example:

Supplier to Sussex Customer Delivery is £5.00

Customer in Aberdeen enters their correct address and then chooses Sussex Delivery to avoid paying the charge to Scotland [£12.00].

The supplier is not discriminating against Scotland Customers but the Couriers charge a lot more for the north of Scotland.

Please advise somebody......??

TonyM.

[Mike Hughes]

I don't think you can set it by postcode.

The best way is to create a number of regions / Zones and set the shipping using that.

See this article in the Knowledge Base http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=45282

Mike

[TonyM]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the response. Would using Regions and Zones force the user to select the correct ones ??

Currently giving the user the option to choose the shipping method allows them to "cheat" the charging system.

T.

[Mike Hughes]

It wouldn't force the user to select the right region / zone but it does have a couple of advantages over what I think you currently have:

1. The customer has to select their region right at the start of checkout before they get to the shipping phase.

2. The shipping charges aren't shown at the point they select their region so the incentive to try and cheat the system isn't there at the time of selection.

I'm sure you'll still get some people who try and cheat but it will be far fewer because they won't be sitting there thinking "Oh, I wonder what happens if I choose this cheaper option? Oh look. It seems happy so I'll just leave it like that."

Mike

[Darren B]

we have the same problem, 99% of people do select the correct delivery options, those that dont find there order gets held and a phone call asking them to agree to the additional charges, if they dont accept we cancel.

If im honest its the guy spending the small amount that always selects the wrong one, nearly all say the "website did it automatically" - which translates as i thought i would get away with it or i dont read anything infront of me

i have been asking for the shipping to be looked at for a while now (at least two years), there are a few things we could really do with this is one and the other is excluding products from particular shipping methods, there is a wish list for this somewere

[TonyM]

Hi Darren,

Totally agree with all you say there. We are finding people from all over the UK are selecting "Sussex Delivery" because it is lower price than Bristol/Birmingham/Cardiff/Aberdeen etc.,

Your second point about excluding certain products from some methods would be extremely useful also.

T.

ps., thanks for your comments Mike - I'll have a look at that bit later.

[Mike Hughes]

OK. I've thought about this a litle bit.

1. AFAIK there are no plans for Actinic to implement postcode based shipping charges.

2. A simple solution would be to create 124 regions with one for each Postcode Area (i.e. AB, NW, YO, etc). This could still be bypassed though as there's nothing to stop a customer choosing one region at this stage and entering a different postcode in their address.

3. It should be relatively easy (for someone who knows what they're doing) to modify the checkout scripts to look at the delivery postcode and set the region based on the postcode area. This would need manual editing to align the postcode areas with the regions you're using.

It could be something as simple as a big if / elseif construct with a few lines to set the region to to the result.

If you want something like this then your best bet is probably to contact Norman Rouxel via the forum or his website here http://www.drillpine.biz/

Mike

[Darren B]

ok this was the thread i first had problems with it, funny the wish list thread no longer exists, well i tried bloody hard to find it but it is not there anymore

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=28181

[Darren B]

this thread is the same as what you asked for http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?p=190013#post190013

[Mike Hughes]

I've posted a reply in that thread.

Mike

Edit: Darren's first link about shipping by weight and category.

[TonyM]

Hi again Guys,

I checked with the PCA people to see if their address checking software could do this. Their reply:

"The only possibility I could suggest is to look at coding in a delivery cost based on the county returned by the PCA call."

So, it looks like a none starter until AC build this into a future release of the product.

Thanks to all, T.

[TonyM]

Hi all,

Have any of you been able to do the following ??

We have a problem with AC not having an option to link a customers address to a shipping charge.

We need to set the Shipping Charge in Actinic V9 based upon the customers' Post Codes - Example:
Supplier to Sussex Customer Delivery is £5.00
Customer in Aberdeen enters their correct address and then chooses Sussex Delivery to avoid paying the charge to Scotland [£12.00].

The general consensus in the forum so far is no - AC cannot do this currently - and one suggestion was to modify the checkout script with possibly a big if / elseif construct with a few lines to set the shipping region to to the result.

We are finding that many customers are seeing this as a way to cheat the system and not pay the correct shipping charges.

Any ideas ??

TonyM.

New thread merged into this one as the same subject.

[guccij]

Rather than mess about with the checkout script with all the potential for disaster that involves, I'd suggest you go right back to basics and revisit your shipping charges themselves.
You might want to even charges out across the board, so that all UK delivery charges are the same. This would mean that someone in Sussex pays more than they do at present, and someone in Scotland pays less.
If the service is good, then the Sussex person is unlikely to complain. They're not going to know the true cost anyway.
For example, I'm shipping something to Shapinsay today (one of the Orkney islands). The shipping cost is the same for that customer as it is for another customer who lives 5 miles away.
It all evens out over time.

[TonyM]

Thank you Jules,

Good suggestion and in the short term I suppose that is the best option. I have forwarded the request as a "Wishlist" item to AC. Hope someone is looking at the issue as it would be good to have the charges worked out automatically in a future release.

T.

[Kombu]

To add to this:

Just sent this off to Norman at Drillpine but he was unable to help me:

Australia, being a fairly large country, has a HUGE range of freight charges. This is now complicated by the fact that I want to offer a choice of Aus Post or Courier...For example local deliveries cost me $5 up to 25kg...But that same delivery to remote Western Australia would cost me around $120!

I want customers to be able to enter their postcode (checkout page 1) and the next page offers their freight costs (which are weight calculated and would be either courier / Aus Post / pickup in store...

I can set up the charges on an excel sheet for each of the postcodes and for each of the weight breaks...and would then need to have this imported into Actinic or the website. Would then need Actinic changed so that on page one of the checkout it does NOT include freight charges and instead of asking for a State / Area (as our site does) it simply asks for a postcode...Page 2 of the checkout then offers the drop down list of freight options as it does now.

Appreciate this has been talked through ad nauseum in the forum but am at a point where I need to get this sorted. Any chance you can please let me know how much it would cost for you to put this together for us :-)


Unfortunately Norman cannot work on this one...Is there anyone out there who can put this together - or let me know how much it would be. From the look of the forum there would be considerable interest in such a fix so perhaps cost could be shared or it could be developed with the aim that it could be onsold time and again? Perhaps I am missing something here as it has not been done already but as per the posts above I am totally OVER customers entering the wrong shipping area when checking out :mad:

[toolman.co.uk]

we have the same problem, 99% of people do select the correct delivery options, those that dont find there order gets held and a phone call asking them to agree to the additional charges, if they dont accept we cancel.

If im honest its the guy spending the small amount that always selects the wrong one, nearly all say the "website did it automatically" - which translates as i thought i would get away with it or i dont read anything infront of me

i have been asking for the shipping to be looked at for a while now (at least two years), there are a few things we could really do with this is one and the other is excluding products from particular shipping methods, there is a wish list for this somewere

I would just like a basic 'Royal Mail first class under 2.5kg = £X
'Royal Mail second class under 2.5kg = £X
Courier 1 = £X
Courier 2 = £X
And / Or Free over £X
without having to put the weight of every 800 odd products in

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

How would Actinic know whether the order was under or over 2.5kg if you don't give each product a weight?

[Mike Hughes]

Th easiest way, and the one that makes most sense to customers, is to use a simple scale of:

Small Items: £X
Large Items: £Y

Then you just need to set a default weight of 10g (say) and set anything in the 'large items' to 1Kg or similar and you're sorted.

If someone order lots of smaller items then they'll get the cheaper delivery but you wouldn't want to discourage this anyway.

Mike

[David N]

The post code thing is harder than you think, many post codes are split into crazy bits.

i.e. take the PH post code for example:

PH3 is mainland Scotland near Perth (well populated area) where as PH44 are on island hundres of miles away

David


http://i48.tinypic.com/5cgc1t.jpg

[Mr Chips]

A very interesting thread. I was about to purchase Actinic, but this thread has put me off.

If I understand correctly, the customer registers on your store with valid UK address details - I could even employ the postcode lookup addon to ensure these details are correct. Then, at checkout, they just select whichever region they fancy?? Invariably the one with the cheapest rate. The problem is that you don't have a unified single rate for the UK?

I ship reasonably chunky boxes via courier. Highlands and Islands are more expensive. I need to, and should be able to, distinguish these automatically at checkout.

Why does it not pull the shipping zone from the address book? Logical, surely?

My current (free) cart provides this functionality.

I like the look of Actinic. I'm looking at it because I was of the impression that a paid-for cart would come with a tighter community and better (more responsive?) support and development. Is this not the case? Any comment on this from the developers? Quite a few people seem have this as a requirement.

Mr Chips

[Nathan Hill]

Well I am a new user to Actinic and I have just come across this problem. I can see posts on this forum regarding this issue dating back a few years - you would have thought they would have a solution by now - or at least a 3rd party plug in?

I am quite shocked nothing is offered especially as the company is based in the UK and knows how tricky the post code system is.

[Mike Hughes]

There are a couple of threads in the wish list forum on this. It looks as if nobody's added a request for this for 2-3 years so I'm not too surprised Actinic haven't seen it as a priority.

When Actinic are looking at new features to add, the wish list forum is one of the things they look at to gauge users interest.

Mike

[BelmoreBoy]

Is this what everyone is looking for?
http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=38625

I considered it a while back, never took the plunge but starting to think i will need shipping by postcode again very soon due to increased parcel sizes and more highlands business than last year.

If we all need something like this - would it be worth contacting teclan as a group purchase?

Cheers

[Kombu]

I also believe there would be real interest in purchasing a third party add on to make it possible for freight to be calculated by post code. I live and sell in Australia and post charges for some items can run from $5 for local delivery to closer to $70 for outback Australia...So really need something easy to work charges out...

Would be more than happy to look @ purchasing a 3rd party add on - anyone out there up for it?

[plantsforshade]

I am pretty late here, but we as many people do have the same problem. Why actinic don't link with the delivery zones of the major UK courier companies I really don't know as it would be a huge plus.

But I have had a verbal quote from Teclan (Fergus) to say they could do it for us as part of some other work we need. That is to say they have produced post code derived delivery zones within Actinic in the past and can do it again. Would be a popular plug in I have just been waiting to see what V10 had.

Nigel

[Kombu]

Please keep me in the loop :-) I emailed Teclan quite a while back but don't remember getting a reply...Working this issue through @ the moment and Australia provides its own challenges so really would love the delivery area to be derived from the postcode...Please keep me in the loop :)

[sammymac]

Hi

I am using shipping by postcode, though for the UK I would use shipping via country and town would be easier to manage

send me message if you want to know how

[Silvia]

This is what I need to do. Thank you for your advice.