How do I use the Restrictive Shipping module?

3dcart’s Restrictive Shipping add-on allows you to restrict individual products to use specific shipping methods when they are purchased.  For example, if your store sells a mixture of perishable and non-perishable items, you may need to restrict your perishable items to use an overnight shipping method whenever it is present on the order.

This way, regardless of whether your customer purchases a perishable item on its own or in conjunction with non-perishable items, the restricted shipping method will always apply to the order.

Enabling the Module

After purchasing the Restrictive Shipping module, you will be notified by your project manager that the service has been added to your store. Once you receive this notification, you may enable the add-on with the following steps:

For your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager:

1. Go to Settings >Shipping
2. Once there, click on "Edit Settings" under "Shipping Settings"
3. On the next page, click on the +icon for "General Settings" to expand the section

Within this section, you'll see a series of checkboxes.

4. Locate the checkbox labeled "Enable Shipping Restriction Per Product" and make sure it is marked.
5. Click "Save" at the top right of the page.

Once the add-on is enabled, you can begin the process of editing your products to use their applicable shipping methods.

From your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager:

1. Go to Products >Product List
2. Find the product that you'd like to edit and click on its name
   (You can also look to the far right of the item and click on its "Action >Edit" button)
3. Within the product’s Information Tab, scroll down to the “Shipping Options” section and click on the new “Shipping Restrictions” link

You will now see a small window pop up on your browser which will show a two-pane window.  On the left pane will be your store’s current shipping methods.  From here, you can select shipping methods from the left pane and move them to the right pane by clicking the designated arrows.

To remove a shipping method from the product’s restriction, select the shipping method on the right-hand pane and click the left pointing arrow.

After selecting your methods, click on the “Close” button and save your product.

Your product will now be restricted to only use the methods restricted to it.  This means that – as long as the product is in the order’s shopping cart at the time of purchase – the only shipping methods that will apply to the order will be the ones restricted to the product.

Closing Notes:

When restricting various shipping methods to various products, it important to understand how the cart will display the restricted shipping methods during specific situations.

For example, let’s say you have a store with only 3 products:

1. Product A
   Is restricted to the store's Priority Method
2. Product B
   Is restricted to the store's Next Day Method
3. Product C
   Is not restricted and can be shipped using any shipping method.

In the above scenario, products A and B have shipping methods restricted to them while Product C is open to any shipping method that the store uses. So, based on the above:

• If Product A is on the order:
  
  • The cart will only offer the Priority shipping method during checkout since that's the shipping method restricted to the product.
• If Product B is on the order:
  • The cart will only offer the Next Day shipping method during checkout since that's the shipping method restricted to the product.
• If Product A and Product C are on the order:
  
  • Shipping will still reflect Priority because one of the products (A) is restricted to that method
• If Product B and Product C are on the order:
  • Shipping will still reflect Next Day because one of the products (B) is restricted to that method

However, if both Product A and Product B are on the order, the software will not be able to favor one method over the other and will display them both.

It is then up to the shopper to select the method that they prefer for the order.

CSV Export/Import

You can also use CSV export/import functions to update your product shipping restrictions.

Exporting Shipping Restrictions

To generate and export a CSV file of your store's shipping restrictions:

1. Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager
2. Using the left hand navigation menu, go to Products >Product List
3. Next, click on the "Export/Import" button found along the top right of the page.
4. In the export section (left side), locate the "Shipping Restrictions" section and click on it to expand the view.
5. Click Export Data

The store will begin the process of generating a CSV file of the store's Shipping Restrictions. When complete, click on the Action Wheel to the far right of the export and select download it to your computer.

You can make changes to this export file and use it to import (see next section) updates to your product shipping restrictions. The import can also be used to Insert new records if needed.

CSV columns

The export/import CSV file will contain the following columns:

• catalogid
  This is the catalog/database number for the product the record is for. Typically, you can view the URL of the product (inside the online store manager) to get the catalog ID number.
• id
  This is the ID of the product the record is for. The ID is listed as SKU in the product information tab of your online store manager.
• shipcarriermethodid
  This is the database ID number of the shipping method(s) the product is restricted to.

• ShippingCaption
  This is the final column on the CSV file and it will display the name of the shipping method(s) restricted to the products.

Importing Shipping Restrictions

To import a modified CSV file of the store's shipping restrictions (for updates):

1. Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager
2. Using the left hand navigation menu, go to Products >Product List
3. Next, click on the "Export/Import" button found along the top right of the page.
4. In the import section (right side), locate the "Shipping Restrictions" section and click on it to expand the view.
5. Click Browse to locate the modified CSV file on your computer
6. Click "Import Data"