Ch. 016 Shipping > Carrier Accounts (Setting Up Carrier Accounts)

Shipping > Carrier Accounts


In this chapter:


What is a Shipping Method and What is a Carrier Account?


Shipping Methods

In Pressero, you can set up and configure different ways in which to send a package. Perhaps you want small, flat items under 0.25 lbs to be shipped via USPS. Maybe you want larger items that need to be overnighted to go via FedEx. Or maybe you want to send items via UPS, but want to avoid escalating charges for very heavy or very large "oversize" items. Or perhaps you only want managers or high-level employees of a specific company to be able to ship using a certain method, like FedEx Overnight.
You can set up rules/ways to handle all of these scenarios by setting up Shipping Methods.
 
Important Note: You need to have created at least one Shipping Method globally and have it enabled on each individual Retail or B2B Site before customers can successfully check out.

Carrier Accounts

Working hand-in-hand with Shipping Methods are Carrier Accounts.
Several shipping carriers (such as UPS and FedEx) offer their business customers individualized rates, depending on your shipping volume, and other factors.
 
You might have an account with UPS that has a better rate for shipping than the publicly shown UPS rates, and when a customer is on your site, you may want them to see shipping prices that reflect your specific rates when Pressero does a lookup for shipping to their location, instead of the default.
 
Unlike Shipping Methods, it's not mandatory to set up a Carrier Account. Pressero can still do rate lookups, but the shipping rates your customers see won't be the same rates you might get from your actual account with that shipping carrier.
 
Some carriers also don't give special rates, such as with USPS. With carriers like that, everyone gets the same rate, so no specific account integration needs to be set up. Pressero already knows how to look up shipping rates in these cases, and no additional configuration is needed beyond creating a shipping method using that carrier.
 

Integrate your Carrier Account with a Specific Shipping Carrier in Pressero


Not all shipping carriers offer specialized shipping prices if you open an account with them, but some do, and it's possible you might rather calculate a customer's shipping using rates from your specific account with a carrier.
This section guides you in setting up Carrier Accounts in Pressero. At the end of this article, there is also a list of all carriers Pressero can currently integrate with in order to do shipping rate lookups.

Preferences > Shipping > Carrier Accounts

There are two places in Pressero where you can specify carrier account information. In this section, we will go over how to set up your default carrier accounts globally for your entire Pressero instance, and later we'll describe how to specify or override this global setting on a per-site basis.
First, to set up a Carrier Account globally, go to Preferences > Shipping > Carrier Accounts. You will see a page like the below image, with all currently available carrier integrations ordered alphabetically.

 


Locate the specific carrier you want to set up. Note that some carriers have two integrations available, such as the UPS example in the image below.

Important: When you see two versions, as in this image, use the V2 version.

 
Older implementations will be phased out in the future.

The newer implementation type (V2) will give you additional options to configure when you use it to create a shipping method later on. Avoid using the original implementation (the version without the V2 in the name); it will be removed in a future Pressero update.

Once you have located the carrier you wish to integrate with Pressero, note what information must be entered for each. Some ask for a username or a user ID, some ask for an account number, some ask for passwords, and some do not need passwords.

If you do NOT already have an existing account with the shipping carrier you want to use, you will need to contact them or go to their website and set up a new account. Pressero cannot create that account for you; it's between you and the specific shipping carrier.

A list of available shipping carrier integrations for Pressero can be found here. In that section, you will also find links to specific instructions for each individual carrier.
Once you have gathered the information a specific carrier integration needs, and have entered it, remember to click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page to save your changes. After your changes are saved, you can click on Preferences > Shipping > Methods and set up a new shipping method utilizing the carrier you just configured.

Enabling and Overriding Specific Shipping Carriers on Sites


It's possible that even though you set up integration for a shipping carrier globally already, under Preferences > Shipping > Carrier Accounts, you might have a different account with the same shipper that you might want to use instead, on a site-by-site basis. For example, if you set up a Site solely to cater to the employees of a certain corporate account, they might give you THEIR shipping carrier's info so their account can be billed for shipping, instead of yours.

In this scenario, you would want the store to use their account information to look up the rates so that the fees quoted and charged are accurate. To achieve this, you can set up (or override) carrier integration configuration on a site-by-site basis.

Go to Sites > [select site] > Settings > Shipping > Carrier Accounts . You should see a page that looks like the one in the image below.
 
 
From there, fill in the details requested. In this case, you will probably need to obtain them from the customer for which you're creating the site.

If you have already configured your carrier accounts globally, you do not need to configure this page. It is only for when you need to override the global settings.

If you have more than one site you need to make these changes for, you will need to go to each site individually and make the changes, and save them.
Remember to hit Save when changes are complete.
 

Enabling and Disabling Shipping Methods on a Specific Site


After you create a Shipping Method globally (under Preferences), go to Sites > [select site] > Settings > Shipping, and look for Shipping Methods.
Underneath it are listed all the Shipping Methods you made globally already, and the ones that are enabled for this site are green with a check next to the name.
Shipping methods that are not enabled for this site are plain white.

Click on a Shipping Method you wish to enable. You will see a form to configure it for the individual site that looks like this:
 
 
To enable this Shipping Method for your site, find the Enable field and check it. Then look at the bottom of the window, and click the blue Save button to save the change.
 

Your change will be saved, and you'll be put back on the General Info tab for the Settings page of your site, so click again on Shipping to confirm your changes. You should see your Shipping Method in green, like this example:
 


Sort Order


Sort order allows you to determine the order of shipping options that a customer sees.

The lower a number is, the higher it appears in a list. In the example image below, which shows how a customer might see the list of shipping methods available to them, the sort order for "speedee" was 0, and the sort order for "USPS Priority Mail" was 5.
 
 

Remember to Save after you make changes.


Site Groups


Pressero also allows you to configure Shipping Methods so they only appear for users that have been assigned to certain Site Groups.

Site Groups are a way to give customers of a particular site varying levels of permissions. For example, you may want Salespeople to only be able to buy business cards for themselves, and ship those using ordinary non-expedited Shipping Methods. You would create one Site Group for them, and configure them to have restricted permissions, while a Site Group for Managers can have different permissions. For example, perhaps you want to allow people in a Managers group to select a more expensive, expedited overnight shipping service.(Learn more about creating Site Groups here.)

If you have already created Site Groups, you can check or uncheck groups as needed to allow (or disallow) them from using this Shipping Method upon checking out.
 
 
In the example above, notice there are site groups named "Approvers," "Sales Rep," "Management" and a default "Everyone" (which means EVERYONE) Site Group.
You can use the check boxes to enable or disable this particular Shipping Method for any of those groups.

Remember to Save your changes before leaving the page.

Supported Shipping Carrier Integrations


Click on the carrier name below to be directed to carrier-specific configuration instructions.

Note: There are no Carrier-specific integration instructions for USPS because USPS pricing is the same for all USPS customers. Adding your business login for them won't affect the shipping prices displayed, so there is no carrier configuration needed. USPS (and other carriers that don't require carrier account setup) can still be used to create a shipping method. You just don't have to set up an integration for them first as you do with other shippers. 

It is recommended NOT to add USPS credentials to the USPS / USPS V2 Carrier Account fields when utilizing USPS integrated shipping methods. It may cause potential errors, and prevent customer use at Checkout. Be certain to test your enabled shipping methods on each site to watch for such errors. More details regarding testing can be found here: Ch. 036 Shipping Setup for Sites - Test Shipping Methods

The following Shipping Carrier Account Integrations have been supported previously, and are now considered obsolete. If you are still using any of these integrations, please make the necessary updates as soon as possible.

  • Australia Post - Domestic Parcels (Obsolete)
  • Australia Post - International Parcels (Obsolete)
  • FedEx (Obsolete)
  • UPS (Obsolete)
  • UPS Freight (Obsolete)

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