Shipping Rules – Xentral help center

Features in scope:

You can define rules, so that a specific shipping method will be selected when certain conditions apply. If a rule applies to an order, the software chooses the shipping method defined by the rules.
You can apply rules to manual and imported orders:In the case of manual orders, the software suggests a change to you.In case of imported orders, it changes automatically.
Du kannst die Regeln auf manuelle und importierte Aufträge anwenden: Bei manuellen Aufträgen schlägt dir die Software eine Änderung der Versandmethode vor. Bei importierten Aufträgen ändert sich die Versandmethode automatisch.
You also define rules that overlap with each other.
You can specify so-called weights (=priorities) to make the application of the rules unambiguous.

Features out of scope:

You cannot automatically select the optimal shipping method, e.g. with regard to shipping costs.
You cannot apply shipping rules to orders that were imported via Transfers module or Document Importer.

Typical use cases:

In practice, shipping rules are often used to change the shipping method for orders that exceed certain metrics. One use case is to allow changing the shipping method according to weight. Example: Up to 1.00 kg shipping method "Warenpost”; From 1.01 kg parcel shipping with shipping method "DHL”; Greater than 31,5 kg shipping method "Spedition".
The shipping method can also be selected based one the destination country. Example: DE with shipping method "DHL”; AT with "POST.AT”; CH with" POST.CH"; Rest of EU with "UPS”.

In the Shipping Rules module, you can define which shipping service provider (carrier) is used in which scenarios based on certain rules. The rules on which shipping provider to use for a sales order can be based on, for example, sales, weight, items, destination country, payment method or other parameters.

In the case of manually entered orders, a message appears informing you that there is a proposed change to the shipping method. This can be accepted manually by clicking on Change shipping method.

In the case of orders entered via the Online Shop Importer, the rules are applied automatically. No manual intervention is necessary here.

Rules

You can find the module by entering it in the super search or in the app store under Shipping Rules. When you call up the module, the Rules tab opens first. Here you can see all the rules you have created so far. Click on +New rule on the right to create a new rule.

The rules can help to ensure that you do not have to manually select the shipping provider in each order, but that it is pre-selected based on certain criteria.

You can now define various settings and parameters for the rule:

Name: A name of your choice for the rule
Destination shipping method: Selection of the shipping method (e.g. DPD, DHL, GLS). If the rule applies, it is automatically set once for the order during store import. In the case of manual order entry, a note is displayed after approval
Active: By setting the checkmark the rule is active
Priority: The prioritization helps to determine which rule should apply if two different rules would apply to the same order. In this case, Prio 1 > Prio 2 > Prio 3 etc. applies
Product: Restriction to certain products. Please note that shipping costs and discounts are considered products in Xentral!
Fastlane: Selection whether the order should be a Fastlane order (higher priority)
Order amount: Limitations regarding the order amount, e.g. < 20 € or > 50 €
Payment method: Only orders with this payment method
Shipping method: The rule applies to orders with this pre-selected shipping method
Project: The rule applies only to orders of this project
Delivery country: Allows the rule to be restricted to deliveries for specific countries
Store: The name of a store can be entered here
Volume: Must be equal to the sum of volumes of all products in the order. You can calculate the volume of each product item by multiplying dimensions (length x width x height). For example L: 5cm, W: 10cm, H: 25cm = 1250. Dimensions of the product are stored in Master Data > Product > Details Stock/dimensions.
Weight: Restrictions regarding the weight, e.g. <=5kg or >1kg. For specifications <1kg, a decimal point must be used. Specifications containing a comma are not evaluated. A weight of 100g is therefore indicated as 0.1kg.

The parameters can be used as you like or left empty. Not every available operator makes sense for every parameter, for example the operators ">" or "<=" make sense for weight, but they can't be used for products or projects.

Note

There is a difference between the "=" and "in" operators. For products we can see the following differences:

When you use "=" only a single specified product is allowed in the sales order for the shipping rule to apply. If other products are included in the sales order, the shipping rule will not be applied.

When you use the "in" operator on the other hand, multiple products can be added to the shipping rule. If any of those products are included in a sales order, the rule will be applied. Other products can be included as well.
Just in time (JIT) bill of materials can only be registered using the "in" operator. The "=" operator does not register JIT bill of materials!

For example, a rule could look like this to send orders of a certain project with a selected shipping method.

If a rule applies to an order, it will be suggested in the order (Sales > Order > *Select order*) after you have released the order. Click on Change shipping method to apply the change to the shipping rule.

You can also combine rules, by using multiple parameters in the same shipping rule. Here is an example:

This rule means that orders with an order amount greater than 1000€ and the delivery country France will be shipped using the DHL shipping method.

History

The History tab displays the orders for which you clicked Change shipping method in the order at the above message "A shipping rule was found. Change shipping method?". The view of the executed changes in the history is very good to understand if and which rules take effect.

Use cases

Use case 1 - Shipping type by weight

In practice, shipping rules are often used that provide for changing the shipping type according to weight scales.

Here is an example matrix for a weight scale:

Rule	from	to	Delivery via	Shipping module in Xentral	Product
Weight in kg	0.01	0.5	Warenpost Dt. Post	Internetmarke	Books and goods shipment 500g
kg	0.51	1.0	Warenpost Dt. Post	Internetmarke	Books and goods shipment 500g
kg	1.01	3.0	DHL	DHL versenden	Parcel (up to 31.5 kg)
kg	3.01	31.5	DPD	DPDapi	Parcel (up to 31.5 kg)
kg	31.6	1000	Spedition	Spedition	Pallet shipping

Regardless of the shipping method used to import or create the orders in the system, the desired shipping method should be selected according to the weight rule.

In the module you define five different shipping rules. For these, you enter a name and the weight range as well as the desired shipping method.

Use case 2 - with priority

Another use case is the automatic assignment of a shipping method for certain countries. This is often needed in combination with a weight scale.

In the following, the previously created weight scale should be generally valid. Only in case the destination country is Austria, a different shipping type shall be assigned to the orders in general.

We extend our example by the following rule for the delivery country Austria. In this case, DPD should always be selected, regardless of the weight of the order:

Rule	=	Delivery via	Shipping module in Xentral	Product
Delivery country	Österreich	DPD	DPDapi	Package

In Xentral, when you create a new rule, you specify the priority 0 and the delivery country Austria.

Since in the rules by weights no default for the delivery country was entered before, we have to work with a prioritization here. For orders with the delivery country Austria, a rule based on the weight and the country would now take effect.

By assigning Prio 0, the rule based on the country of delivery is given priority. All other rules are weighted weaker (0 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5).