Menu

Shipping Rule: Automatically Apply the Requested Shipping Service

Avatar

ShipWorks Content Team

Updated

Background

Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to select the carrier and shipping service for every order? Create shipping rules that will do the work for you. By creating Shipping Rules you tell ShipWorks what shipping defaults you want applied to your shipments automatically.

This article will guide you through creating a Shipping Rule that looks at the Requested Shipping method associated to orders and then automatically applies that shipping method to the shipment for the order. In this article:

  • You will be introduced to the process of how to create a Shipping Rule in ShipWorks.

    We will be using USPS for this example. However, the same process can be applied to any shipping carrier you use.

  • We will set the default shipping profile to USPS Priority Mail. The default shipping profile is always applied first. Then, Shipping Rules tell ShipWorks to change the default settings when a rule applies to an order.

  • We will create a Shipping Rule that looks at the Requested Shipping associated to an order and, if the Requested Shipping is First Class, will change the service from Priority Mail (the default) to First Class Mail automatically.

The Process

Set the Default Shipping Service

Why are we doing this? Setting the default service to Priority tells ShipWorks to apply Priority Mail to all shipments first (then to check if any Shipping Rules apply). This is helpful when the most commonly used service to ship packages is Priority Mail.

  1. Click Setup Automated Shipping Rules on the Quick Start screen to open the Shipping Settings dialog. (Is the Quick Start screen not open? Click on the Home tab and then on Quick Start.)

    Setup automated shipping rules

    Shipping Settings

    Did you know that you can open the Shipping Settings screen from the ShipWorks ribbon as well? You can. Click on the Manage tab and then on the Shipping Settings button.

    manage tab > shipping settings button

  2. Select USPS from the list of available providers. Then, click on the blue Defaults - USPS link on the Settings tab.

    SW_STEPS_SEL_USPS_Defaults_MRK.png

  3. Click on the Service: drop-down menu and select Priority. Then, click the OK button.

    SW_STEPS_SEL_PriorityMail_OK_MRK.png

Create the Shipping Rule: Quick Filter

Why are we doing this? The first step in creating any Shipping Rule is to create the Quick Filter. In this case, we will create a filter that looks for any orders that have a Requested Shipping method of First Class Mail. Why? We want to locate those orders so that we can have ShipWorks automatically change the default service from Priority to First Class for those orders.

Quick Filters vs. Filters in the Filters Panel

The Quick Filter we create here will not be displayed in the Filters Panel on the main screen of ShipWorks, since we only need it to do work for us behind the scenes. However, it is important to note that, if you already have a Filter created in the Filters Panel that will work for the Rule you are creating, you can bypass creating a Quick Filter and select the Filter in the Filters Panel. So, what's the difference?

  • Quick Filters aren't meant to be selectable. They work in the background and are always sorting orders to be used in Shipping Rules. We don't see what they are doing, but they are always working hard to filter orders so that your Shipping Rules can be applied.

  • Filter in the Filters Panel are there to help you quickly sort and organize your orders. Filters in the Filters Panel can be selected and the orders contained within the filter are displayed on the main orders grid. Learn more about Filters here.

    SW_FiltersPanel.png

  1. Ensure that USPS is still selected. Then, click on the Shipments tab.

    SW_ShippingSettings_USPS_TAB_Shipments_MRK.png

  2. Click the Add Rule button.

    add rule button

  3. Locate the newly created rule in the Additional Defaults section. Expand the filter drop-down menu and click on Create.... This opens the Filter Editor.

    SW_STEPS_Rule_Filter_Create_MRK.png

    Filters in the Filters Panel

    We mentioned previously that it is also possible to bypass creating a Quick Filter if you already have a filter created in the Filters Panel. This is the point at which you could select that filter.

    SW_SelectFilter.png

  4. Enter a name for the filter into the Name: field. (We are naming our filter 'First Class' so that we can easily identify what the filter is later.)

    SW_PU_FilterEditor_Name_MRK.png

    What are Conditions?

    In the next few steps we will be adding a Condition to the filter. Think of Conditions as the information that the filter is supposed to identify about orders. Like, searching for orders that have a Requested Shipping of First Class Mail.

  5. Click on the Add Condition button SW_BTN_AddCondition_Inline.png. A new condition will be added to the Filter.

    SW_FILTER_AddCondition_MRK.png

  6. Click on Order Total and select Order > Requested Shipping.

    SW_STEPS_Rule_OrderTotal-Order-RequestedShipping_MRK.png

  7. Leave the green Equals as is. Enter USPS First Class into the blank field. Your condition should now look like the screenshot below.

    SW_FILTER_Condition_RequestedShipping_FirstClass.png

    Equals vs. Contains

    Above, we left the condition set to Equals. This means that only orders with a requested shipping that exactly matches USPS First Class will be located. In our example, the orders in our instance of ShipWorks all match. Notice the two highlighted orders in the screenshot.

    USPS_First_Class.png

    But what happens if some orders have USPS First Class and some First Class Mail? Maybe different sales channels download the Requested Shipping information differently.

    One answer is to change Equals to Contains and enter First Class into the field. Now, ShipWorks will locate any orders that have a Requested Shipping that 'contains' the two words First Class.

    SW_Rule_ContainsFirstClass.png

  8. Click the OK button to save your filter. You will now see your Rule has been updated with the filter you created. The blue number next to the filter indicates the number of orders the filter located that match.

    SW_RuleWith_Filter_highlighted.png

Create the Shipping Rule: Profile

Why are we doing this? We've created the First Class filter to find any orders that need to be shipped via USPS First Class Mail. We've also set the default shipping service for USPS to Priority Mail. Now, we will create a Shipping Profile for our Shipping Rule that will change the default service from Priority Mail to First Class for any orders in the First Class filter.

Note

Select Shipping Profiles

Do you already have your Shipping Profiles created? Skip the steps below to create new profiles. Instead, apply your existing profiles to your Shpping Rules by selecting None > Select > [your profile].

None > select > priority mail profile is selected.

  1. Click on (none) then on manage Profiles... to open the Manage Profiles screen.

    SW_STEPS_Rule_NoneManageProfiles_MRK.png

  2. Click the Add button.

    SW_PU_ShippingProfiles_BTN_Add_MRK.png

  3. Update the Shipping Profile:

    1. Name: the profile. In this example we will give it the name First Class so that we can easily identify it.

    2. Select USPS from the Provider: drop-down menu. (Since our Shipping Rule relates to USPS we need to see the options available for USPS.)

    3. Locate the Service field in the Shipment section of the profile. Check the checkbox to the left of Service: to enable it. Then, change the service drop-down menu to First Class.

    4. Click the OK button to save the Profile. Then, click Close.

    SW_STEPS_Profile_FirstClass_MRK.png

    More Options Available

    Did you notice all of the available options in the Shipping Profile screen? For our example we only changed the Service:, but you could specify a weight for the package, dimensions, apply insurance, and much more.

    Feel free to explore all of the options and to enable any of them that meet your shipping needs.

  4. Apply the Profile you just created to the Shipping Rule by clicking (None) > Select > First Class [the profile you created].

    SW_SEL_none-Select-FirstClass_MRK.png

Your Shipping Rule should now look like the below screenshot. Click Close to exit the Shipping Settings screen.

SW_RULE_FirstClass.png

Put it to Use

Now that the Shipping Rule has been created, let's take a quick look at what it does and how it saves time when shipping.

In this example, there are 5 orders in ShipWorks which will be shipped by USPS.

  • 3 via Priority Mail

  • 2 via First Class

SW_ORD_OrdersGrid_5Orders_RequestedShipping_MRK.png

Since we configured the default shipping service for USPS to be Priority Mail, when we ship any of the orders with a Requested Shipping method of USPS Priority Mail the correct service will be automatically selected for us.

SW_Rule_ApplyPriotyMail_MRK.png

However, when we ship any of the orders with a Requested Shipping method of USPS First Class, we don't want to have to select First Class for every order. This is where the Shipping Rule we created comes into play. Notice that First Class is automatically selected as the Service: in the screenshot.

SW_Rule_ApplyFirstClass_MRK.png

A little time now saves a ton of time later.

In this article we created only one Rule for USPS. However, keep in mind that you can create multiple Rules for each shipping carrier.

If you ship using multiple carriers and multiple shipping services, applying what you've learned in order to create a shipping rule for each of the services you use now can save you tons of time moving forward. Remember, Shipping Rules not only save you time, but increase efficiency and saves money by reducing costly shipping errors.

Additional Reading

Learn more about creating Shipping Profiles.

Learn more about creating Filters.

Still Need Help?

Please feel free to reach out to one of our awesome Technical Support Representatives in St. Louis.  We are happy to help.

    Attachments

Have a comment to share about this article? We'd love to hear from you. You must be logged in to your Support Portal account to leave a comment.

Comments

0 comments