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e-Commerce Shipping Options

As an overview of 'Shipping' in e-Commerce, 'Goods' purchased through e-Commerce must be transferred to the customer (unlike services).  At least one of the shipping options must be active, however multiple types may be active to allow customer (and merchant) options. Exponent provides several options; NONE of which perform actual shipment processing (obtain a shipping label, schedule a package pickup, etc...) online.  In a basic sense, only the shipping method provides an estimated cost of shipping and handling  to the customer which is paid during checkout. The actual processing of the shipment is handled outside of or apart from Exponent.

The types of shipping available in Exponent are:

  • In Store Pickup
  • Free Shipping
  • Flat (single) Rate Shipping
  • Table Based (calculation based on order total cost) Shipping
  • UPS (requires an online UPS account)
  • FedEx (requires an online FedEx account)

The easiest options to set up (and process) are 'In Store Pickup', 'Free', and 'Flat Rate'.  

Both UPS and FedEx are the most difficult to use since not only do they require online accounts (no cost to set up the account), they require accurate entry of each product's shipping weight and dimensions to provide more accurate shipping costs.  However, they are the most likely method many merchants actually use to ship goods.  The actual processing to obtain (purchase) a shipping label and schedule package pickup are handled outside of Exponent.  Package tracking is handled outside of Exponent, but a method is available to enter the shipment tracking number into the invoice for mailing to the customer.

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