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Customers generally want to receive their purchases as soon as reasonably possible, but sometimes the delivery time is more meaningful. Ordering gifts for family, friends and loved ones leading up to special occasions, like the Holidays or Valentine’s Day, can be stressful when the person giving isn’t sure when their gifts will be delivered.
With Intuitive Shipping, you can set up time-sensitive shipping methods that give customers the confidence that their gifts will arrive on time, and let them choose whether they want priority delivery when it’s getting down to the wire, or standard delivery if they don’t mind waiting a little longer.
How It Works
Before setting up your holiday shipping methods, you first need to understand what your preferred carriers’ limitations are when it comes to delivering around popular gift-giving seasons. You’ll want to ensure you know their cut-off dates for guaranteed delivery. Then, using Scenarios with current date conditions, shipping method descriptions, and if desired, the carrier’s own delivery estimates, you can give customers the confidence their order will get to their special someone on time.
For this example, we’re creating three (3) new Scenarios with current date conditions. The first Scenario will include an expedited shipping method, such as ‘Priority Overnight’, that offers delivery in time for the holidays. The second will include a standard shipping method, such as ‘Ground’, that also offers delivery ahead of the holidays. The third will include the same standard shipping method used in the second Scenario, except with delivery after the holidays.
After setting up the new Scenarios, you’ll need to update your existing non-holiday Scenario by adding current date conditions, then modify the descriptions for all shipping methods that delivery after the holidays. While customers may be disappointed they’ve missed a cut-off date, they’ll appreciate the transparency rather than being mislead or left to wonder.
Before completing this setup: contact your carrier’s account rep or customer service team, or visit their website to find out when their cut-off dates take effect for each service level you wish to offer for holiday deliveries.
Cut-off dates will vary by service type, such as ‘Ground’ and ‘Next Day’, as well as by country or region you’re shipping to.
Create An Expedited Holiday Scenario
This Scenario will allow customers to choose an expedited shipping method that guarantees delivery before the holidays. For this example, we’re using FedEx Priority Overnight as our expedited service.
1) Click Shipping on the sidebar menu, then select Scenarios from the drop-down list.
2) Click the Create scenario button.
General Settings
1) Enter a Scenario title like ‘Expedited Holiday Shipping’.
Scenario titles are not visible to customers.
2) Leave the Status set to On.
While in Sandbox mode, ‘On’ will function the same as ‘Test’ until you have activated a billing plan to begin your free trial.
Learn more about testing your Intuitive Shipping setup.
Conditions
1) Select Set restrictions.
2) Leave Condition match set to ‘All conditions’.
3) Select ‘Current date’ as the condition type.
4) Change the condition logic to ‘less than or equals’.
5) Select the cut-off date for priority shipping in the country or region you’re shipping to as the condition value. For this example, we’re selecting December 22nd, 2022.
That means, customers placing their orders on or before December 22nd, 2022 will see the priority shipping method assigned to this Scenario. This is based on the ‘last day to ship’ date provided by the carrier.
If you have order processing time that delays when you can ship the order out, adjust the cut-off date accordingly.
Product Filters
1) Leave Product filters to set to ‘Match product conditions’.
Because there are no product conditions in this Scenario, this setting is not applicable and can be left as-is.
Save Your Settings
1) Click the Save button to save your expedited holiday Scenario.
You must save the Scenario before you can add a shipping method.
Select A Parcel Service
1) Click the downward arrow beside Parcel services to display a list of live rate carriers.
2) Select your preferred carrier from the list. For this example, we’re selecting FedEx.
3) Click the Next button.
4) Select a Zone.
Learn about Zones.
5) Click the Configure shipping button.
General
1) Enter a shipping method title, like ‘FedEx Holiday Priority’. This title will not be displayed to customers (see Step 2).
2) Leave the title type set to ‘Service title provided by carrier’. The service title provided by the carrier in the rate calculation, such as ‘FedEx Priority Overnight’, will be displayed as the shipping method title at checkout.
3) Leave the status set to On. If you want to test it first before making it public, set it to Test.
While in Sandbox, ‘On’ will function the same as ‘Test’ until you have activated a billing plan to begin your free trial.
Learn more about testing your Intuitive Shipping setup.
4) Enter a description for your shipping method, such as ‘Get it for Christmas!’ We recommend limiting your description to 90 characters or less to ensure it displays properly on the checkout page.
Descriptions are displayed below the shipping method title at checkout.
Additional display settings are available for delivery times, order processing times and service codes. If you do not need to adjust these settings, skip ahead to Packages. Otherwise, continue to Step 5.
5) If desired, click Show additional display settings, then configure delivery time, order processing and service code settings as needed.
6) Choose whether or not you wish to have a delivery time displayed at checkout along with the rate. Carrier delivery times are shown at checkout by default.
If you selected ‘Do not show delivery time’, skip ahead to Step 9. Otherwise, continue to Step 7.
7) If you’re planning to show delivery times, choose the type of delivery time you wish to have displayed at checkout.
You have two (2) settings to choose from:
Carrier delivery time – delivery times displayed at checkout are estimates provided directly by the carrier along with the live rate calculation.
Custom delivery time – delivery times displayed at checkout are the values entered by you in Step 8. When you select this option, additional fields will appear on the screen.
8) If you selected Custom delivery time in Step 7, enter a minimum and, if desired, a maximum number of days.
Min delivery time – enter the lower limit of your delivery time range.
Max delivery time – enter the upper limit of your delivery time range. When combined with the min setting, delivery times will be displayed like ‘1 to 2 business days’ at checkout.
To display a single, fixed number of days, leave either Min or Max blank.
For example, if you prefer to have delivery time displayed as ‘1 business day’ instead of ‘1 to 2 business days’, enter ‘1’ in either minimum or maximum and leave the other field blank.
9) If desired, add order processing time, in days. This is useful when you sell products that cannot be shipped out the same day the order is placed.
Order processing time is added to either carrier delivery times or custom delivery times, depending on which setting you selected in Step 7.
For example, if you enter 2 days for order processing and the carrier returns an estimated delivery time of 1 day, Intuitive Shipping will display the delivery time as ‘3 business days’ at checkout.
This may affect the cut-off date in your current date condition, entered earlier in this setup.
10) If desired, enter a custom service code, such as ‘EXP’. The service code is pushed to your fulfillment service (if applicable) when a customer successfully completes their checkout.
Entering a custom service code will override the service codes provided by the carrier. If you want to use the carrier-provided service codes, leave this setting blank.
Service codes are not visible to customers.
Packages
You can determine how the customer’s order will be packaged by selecting the appropriate packing algorithm and assigning the packages you want to be used by the shipping method.
1) Select a packing algorithm.
You have six (6) options to choose from:
SmartBoxing™ – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based on the weight and the volume of the order.
Weight-based – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based only on the weight of order.
Quantity-based – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based only on the number of items on the order.
Volume-based – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based only on the volume of order.
Points-based – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based on a point system.
Total-based – Intuitive Shipping will select the best package combination based only on the total value of order.
Products must have dimensions in Intuitive Shipping and weights in either Intuitive Shipping or Shopify in order to use SmartBoxing™.
Products must have weights in either Intuitive Shipping or Shopify to use weight-based.
Products must have dimensions in Intuitive Shipping to use volume-based.
Learn more about product settings.
Additional packing settings are available for packing methods and multiple package blending. If you do not need to adjust these settings, skip ahead to Step 3. Otherwise, continue to Step 2.
2) Click Show additional packing settings, then configure packing method and multiple package blending settings as needed.
Learn more about additional package settings.
3) Select each of the packages you want to be included in the signature required parcel service shipping method.
Packages not selected will be ignored by the shipping method.
Packages that have been turned off are muted. They cannot be selected or deselected, and will also be ignored by the shipping method.
To change the On/Off status of a package, go to your main package settings after saving your shipping method.
Packages that were previously selected and have since been turned off (muted) will still be ignored. They cannot be selected or deselected when they are turned off.
Learn more about package status.
Shipping Origin
Real-time carrier rates can be calculated using the primary location set up in Shopify, or a custom ship-from location.
1) Select the ship from location.
You have two (2) settings to choose from:
Dynamic origin location – live carrier rates will be calculated based on the distance between the customer’s address and your primary Shopify location address. This is the default setting.
Specify origin location – live carrier rates will be calculated based on the address specified in Step 2.
If you selected dynamic, skip ahead to Services. Otherwise, continue to Step 2.
If you have already set up custom ship-from locations, they will appear as selectable options.
2) Select a location. This location will be used as the starting point for live carrier rate calculations in this shipping method. You can also add a new location.
Learn more about shipping origins.
Account
If you have an account with the carrier you selected at the beginning of this guide, you can use that account to access your discounted or negotiated rates. If you previously connected your preferred carrier account with Intuitive Shipping, it will be listed in the Carrier accounts area as a selectable option.
Most carriers offer retail rates which can be used if you don’t have an account with the carrier. If the carrier you selected at the beginning of this guide offers retail rates, a ‘Standard retail rates’ option will be displayed below Carrier accounts and selected as the default option. If the carrier does not offer retail rates, nothing will be displayed.
If the carrier requires an account, the shipping method cannot be saved unless the account is available and selected below.
1) Select a carrier account or use standard retail rates, if available.
Services
1) Select the priority service with the cut-off date selected for the Scenario condition. For this example, we’re selecting FedEx Priority Overnight.
If this shipping method was assigned to a domestic zone, be sure to select domestic services. If this shipping method was assigned to an international zone, be sure to select international services.
Only services available in the customer’s postal code or zip code will be displayed at checkout.
Let’s say you’ve selected Priority Overnight. If a customer lives in a postal code where that service is not offered by FedEx, they may only see the ‘standard’ shipping method you’ll be setting up in the next Scenario.
Additional service settings are not required for this setup.
Optional Settings
Additional settings are available for each parcel service shipping method. These settings are optional and not required for this setup.
Learn more about optional settings.
Save Your Settings
1) Click the Save button to save your priority holiday parcel service shipping method.
