Shipping Profiles is a feature designed to create customized shipping conditions for different groups of products. By default, all products are assigned to the General Shipping Rates profile. You can edit this default profile, but cannot delete it. You also have the option to create custom profiles and assign products to them.
If an order contains products from multiple shipping profiles, a separate shipping rate is displayed for each shipment at checkout. The same happens when products from one profile ship from several of your warehouses — unless you turn on rate combining for that profile (see Combining shipping rates at checkout below).
Managing shipping profiles
You can manage shipping profiles under Store > Shipping > Shipping Profiles.
Viewing shipping profile information
Existing shipping profiles appear in a list format under Store > Shipping > Shipping Profiles.
You can access the detailed information of any profile by clicking on the "gear" icon next to its name.
The profile's shipping rules can be found on the Shipping Rules tab.
Products assigned to the shipping profile can be viewed as a list on the Products tab.
More information about shipping rules and assigning products is available below.
Creating a new shipping profile
To create a new custom profile:
Click the New Profile button.
You will be prompted to give the profile a name. This name is for internal use and will not be displayed in the storefront.
After entering a name, click Create profile. The profile will be created and added to the list.
After creating the profile, you must configure it by adding shipping rules and assigning products.
Configuring shipping rules
Within each profile, you can create shipping rules by linking your store's locations (warehouses) with destination zones.
To add a rule:
Click New rule.
Use the following steps to configure the rule components:
Step 1: Select the shipping origin
Add locations from your store's list of warehouses (Select locations and click Add location).
You can select multiple locations, but note that WD (Warehouse Distributors) locations must be used separately from your store's locations.
On the next page you will see the selected locations added to the rule configuration:
You can add more locations to the configuration using the Add location button.
Step 2: Select the shipping zone
Click the Add zone button:
A popup dialog for zone selection opens.
Choose the destination zones to which this rule will apply (Select one or more zones and click Add zone.)
The selected zone(s) will be added to the rule configuration.
Step 3: Add rates
Click the Add rates button.
Depending on the type of rates you want to use, select one of the two tabs: Flat Shipping Rates or Carriers & Special Methods page
Flat shipping rates can be configured directly within the rule. This is the default option and is available for both your own locations and WD integrations.
To add a rate, you need to enter the rate information into the appropriate fields and click Add rate.
Carrier rates can be added by connecting to online carrier services that have been activated on the Shipping > Carriers & Special Methods page. These are only available for your own store's locations.
The selected rates will be added to the rule configuration:
That is it.
Assigning products to a shipping profile
Products can be assigned to shipping profiles individually or in bulk.
💡A product or product variant can only be in one shipping profile at a time. If you add a product to a second profile, it is automatically removed from the first.
Assign an individual product to a shipping profile
You can assign an individual product to a profile via the product's details page: use the Shipping profile field in the Shipping section of the "Info" tab.
After selecting the shipping profile you require, click Update product to save your changes.
Bulk-assign products to a shipping profile
You can assign multiple products to a profile using the bulk-editing tool on the Catalog > Products list. Select the products that you want to assign to the profile, click the Bulk edit button on the sticky panel, then select Shipping info.
On the next page, click the button "Click to specify" for Shipping profile.
Use the selector to choose the shipping profile you require.
Click Save changes.
Editing a shipping profile
To edit a shipping profile:
In the list of your store's shipping profiles (Store > Shipping > Shipping Profiles), find the profile you need to edit. If needed, use filtering.
To edit the profile's name, click the "pencil" icon.
A popup with the current name of the profile will appear.
Edit the name and click Save changes.
To edit the profile rules, click the "gear" icon.
In the profile details, edit the profile's shipping rules and/or assigned products.
Click Save changes.
Deleting a shipping profile
You can delete a custom profile, but only if it contains no products.
To delete a profile:
In the list of your store's shipping profiles (Store > Shipping > Shipping Profiles), find the profile you need to delete. If needed, use filtering.
Click the "trash" icon next to the profile name.
Confirm the deletion.
The profile will be deleted.
Special notes for WD integrations
Location Selection
When setting up a rule for WD integrations, there's a separate tab to select Warehouse Distributors.
Rates
You can use either API Rates provided by the distributor or Flat Shipping Rates that you configure. The API Rates tab is available only if the selected WD provides them, while Flat Shipping Rates are applicable to all added WD locations.
Prioritizing rules for order routing
The order of rules within a profile matters for order routing. Rules are prioritized from top to bottom on the list. If two or more warehouses can fulfill an order, the rule that is higher on the list will be given priority. You can change the priority of a rule by dragging and dropping it using the handle to the left of the rule's title.
Combining shipping rates at checkout
Requires: X-Cart 5.6.0.19 or later
When order routing splits an order between two or more of your own warehouses, the checkout normally shows a separate shipping selector for each shipment. For many stores this is more detail than the customer needs — for example, when all warehouses use the same flat rates, or when shipping is built into product prices. Rate combining lets you show one shipping selector for the whole order instead.
Combining works within a shipping profile and only for shipments from your own locations. Backorder shipments and supplier (warehouse distributor) locations always appear as separate shipments, and products from different shipping profiles are never combined with each other. If an order ships from a single location, there’s nothing to combine, and the checkout works as usual.
Order routing, the shipments in the Admin area, and tracking numbers are not affected — combining changes only what the customer sees and pays at checkout.
Enabling rate combining for a profile
Go to Store > Shipping > Shipping Profiles.
Click the “gear” icon next to the profile.
The Shipping Rules tab opens.
On the Shipping Rules tab, scroll down to the Settings section below the list of rules.
Turn on Combine shipping rates at checkout.
Under Rate source, choose how the combined rate is calculated:
Based on profile rates (default) — the customer chooses between your existing shipping methods, with rates summed across the shipments. See below for details.
Custom rate — the customer sees one shipping method with a name and price you set here. Fill in Method name and Rate (both required) and, optionally, Delivery time. If you leave Delivery time empty, the checkout shows “Contact us for delivery time”.
Click Save changes.
What the customer sees at checkout
Instead of a block per warehouse, the shipments from this profile are shown as one section named Combined delivery. The section shows how many items it covers; the customer can click the item count to see which products are included. The same section is used on the shipping estimator in the cart and in Fast Lane Checkout.
With Based on profile rates, the Combined delivery section offers:
Matching methods — every flat-rate method that exists, under the same name, in all of the combined shipments. Its price is the sum of that method’s rates across the shipments. For example, if both warehouses offer “Standard” at $5, the customer sees “Standard: $10”. A method that only some of the warehouses offer isn’t listed. Carrier-calculated methods (UPS, FedEx, and so on) don’t take part in matching.
Low-cost delivery — the sum of the cheapest available rate in each shipment, carrier rates included. This option is hidden when its price is the same as one of the matching methods.
The delivery time shown for these options is “Contact us for delivery time”. If a carrier fails to return rates for one of the shipments, the customer still sees the matching methods, and only the Low-cost delivery option is dropped. If there are no matching methods either, the checkout shows its usual shipping error.
With Custom rate, the customer sees a single option with the method name, price, and delivery time you entered. The real shipping cost of each shipment isn’t shown to the customer, but it’s calculated and recorded on the order as usual — the difference between your custom rate and the actual cost is your margin or loss on shipping.
Example: The Combined delivery section at checkout: one set of shipping options for items shipped from two warehouses (Based on profile rates mode).
If the order also contains items that ship from a supplier location or from the Backorder warehouse, those shipments keep their own shipping selectors next to the Combined delivery section. The order’s shipping total is the combined option plus the rates of those separate shipments.
Free shipping. Combining works on top of your free shipping rules and special offers:
If a free shipping rule in the profile sets a matching method to $0 in every combined shipment, that method is shown as free.
If a special offer adds the Free Shipping Method, it appears in the Combined delivery section as an extra option — with Based on profile rates as one of the matching methods, with Custom rate next to your custom option.
A special offer that simply zeroes out the cheapest rate is reflected in the Low-cost delivery price with Based on profile rates. With Custom rate, the customer still sees only your custom price; the $0 rates are recorded on the shipments in the Admin area.
What the customer sees on the order page
After the order is placed, the customer's order page (and the order confirmation) shows the combined method and price in the order summary, and the individual shipments under their Ship from blocks — without per-shipment costs. Tracking numbers, when you add them, appear per shipment as usual.
What you see in the Admin area
General Info tab of the order — when the whole order was placed as one combined delivery, the Shipping method and Shipping cost show the option the customer chose and the price they paid; the Actual shipping cost line below shows the sum of the real costs of the shipments. For mixed orders (combined shipments plus a supplier or backorder shipment), the tab links to the Shipments tab, as it does for any split order.
Shipments tab — shipments are listed per location, each with its own method and the real cost calculated by order routing (with Custom rate, the cheapest available rate of that shipment). Shipments that were sold as part of a combined delivery carry a Part of combined delivery note with the option’s name and price, so their individual costs don’t look like a mismatch with what the customer paid. If a carrier failed to return rates for a shipment under Custom rate, a warning icon appears on that shipment’s shipping cost.
Tracking numbers are added per shipment, as usual.
Example: Shipments of an order placed with a combined delivery. Each shipment keeps its own method and cost, with a Part of combined delivery note showing what the customer paid.
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