Shipping Agent (Beta)

Overview

Pelcro’s Shipping Agent (Beta) is a new, dynamic service that calculates live shipping costs for orders in your eCommerce storefront. By setting customizable rules (e.g., weight, currency), you can precisely control the shipping fees that end users see at checkout. This feature also includes AI-driven rate adjustments and automated tax calculations that encompass shipping costs.

Why It's Helpful

• Dynamic Rates: Automatically calculates shipping costs in real-time based on the items in a customer’s cart.
• AI-Enhanced: Uses AI to optimize shipping rates, factoring in different cart parameters like weight, currency, and more.
• Flexible Rules: Accommodates multiple currencies and weights, ensuring you always cover your shipping expenses.
• Seamless Tax Calculation: Taxes can be applied on both product cost and shipping rates, ensuring accurate totals at checkout.

How to Set It Up

1. Enable the Shipping Agent (Beta)
   1. This feature requires the latest version of the Pelcro React UI.
   2. Reach out to your Pelcro Account Manager or [email protected] to enable the Shipping Agent and confirm compatibility.
2. Create Shipping Rules
   1. In your Pelcro dashboard, navigate to Shipping Rules.
   2. Define a new rule with the parameters you want (e.g., weight, currency, rate).
   3. Example: If the cart weight is between 0–5 kg and the currency is CAD, then set the shipping rate to 5 CAD.
   4. Important: To make weight-based rules function correctly, each SKU must have a specified weight.

What It Looks Like & How It Functions

1. Admin View
   1. You’ll see a list of all your defined shipping rules under Shipping Rules in the Pelcro dashboard.
   2. Each rule shows its condition (e.g., weight range, currency) and corresponding shipping rate.
2. Checkout Screen
   1. When users add items to their cart, Pelcro’s system automatically identifies the applicable shipping rule.
   2. The Shipping Cost and Tax (where applicable) are displayed before the final checkout.
   3. In the example below, the weight of the SKU was 3KG, so the shipping rate was calculated to be 5CAD. If the quantity of that item was 2, then the shipping rate would be calculated to be 10CAD since the total weight of the cart would be 6KG.

Best Practices & Use Cases

• Multiple Currencies: If you sell globally, add rules for each currency to ensure accurate shipping costs.
• Weight Tiers: Set tiered shipping costs (e.g., 0–5 kg, 5–10 kg, etc.) to progressively manage higher shipping volumes.
• Promotional Offers: Create a rule that sets shipping to $0 for promotional campaigns or special user groups.

Getting Started

• Contact Support: Email [email protected] or reach out to your Account Manager to enable the Beta and ensure you have the latest Pelcro React UI version.
• Test Thoroughly: Because this Shipping Agent is in Beta, we recommend thorough testing on staging environments before enabling it on your live site.