Shipping and freight
Freight priced at checkout, not after the order
Trade buyers want to know what freight costs before they order. TierCommerce works it out at checkout from your rates, your carrier’s contract and your rules, and sends it to your ERP as its own line.
Every way you send an order
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Delivery
Priced by your table rates, your carrier’s rate card, or live rates from a carrier, with your table rates if it doesn’t answer.
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Pickup
Buyers collect from your warehouse. It’s free unless a rule puts a price on it.
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Dropship
Suppliers send their products straight to your customer, as a separate shipment priced by your dropship rates.
How it fits together
Product weights and sizes come from your ERP. TierCommerce packs the order, prices it for the delivery address, applies your rules, and sends the freight back to your ERP with the order.
What goes into the price
From your ERP and your settings
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Weights and sizes For one unit as sold, from your ERP
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Your rates Table rates, rate cards or live rates
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Your rules and their terms Free freight, surcharges, account terms
Freight at checkout
- Packs the order into cartons and pallets
- Finds the zone for the delivery address
- Prices each delivery method
- Applies your rules from the top
Where it ends up
On the order and in your ERP
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Prices at checkout Each method, starting on the cheapest
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A freight line in your ERP With its own item code
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Notes for the driver Delivery answers in the ERP notes
How it works
From your carrier’s contract to the freight line in your ERP, for one order going to Newcastle.
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1
Load the rates you already pay
Set up zones by state, postcode ranges such as 2000-2234, or prefixes. Then price each delivery method with table rates, your carrier’s contract rates, or live rates from the carrier.
- Table rates by weight, cubic weight, chargeable weight, subtotal, packages or items
- Carrier rate cards uploaded as two CSV files, with the fuel levy and cubic factor
- Check a price between any two postcodes
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2
Add rules for the orders that need them
Rules change what buyers are offered once rates are worked out. They run from the top, so put specific rules, such as one account or a remote postcode, above general ones.
- Conditions on the account, zone, shipping class, subtotal or weight
- Surcharges per order or per package, each with its own ERP item code
- Stop the rules below once a rule matches
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3
Buyers see the price before they order
Checkout lists the delivery methods for the buyer’s address, each with its price, starting on the cheapest. Change the address and freight is priced again.
- The cart shows the cheapest freight to their default address
- Questions for the driver, such as site access or a lift
- Installation ticked per line, where products offer it
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4
Freight lands in your ERP as its own line
The freight the buyer chose goes on the order and to your ERP as a line with its item code. Surcharges and installation get lines of their own, and delivery answers go in the order’s ERP notes.
- No retyping freight onto sales orders
- The rules that changed the freight kept on the order
- Site access, lift and after-hours answers in the ERP notes
Rules for the way you really charge
Each rule applies when all its conditions match. Price changes can apply to some delivery methods, or all of them.
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Free freight over a spend
Such as free road freight on orders over $500 ex GST to metro zones.
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Surcharges
Per order or per package, each sent to your ERP with its own item code, such as a tail-lift.
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Mark up, mark down or set a price
By a percentage or an amount, and never below zero.
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Hide or only offer methods
Such as no express to remote postcodes, or only pallet freight for pallet goods.
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Pickup only
For orders you won’t send, so buyers collect from the warehouse.
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Quote freight first
The buyer sends the cart as a quote request, and your team adds freight to the quote with Add freight.
Built for trade freight
Pallets, dropship lines, two warehouses and customers on their own carrier account, all in the same store.
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Cartons, pallets and classes
Orders are packed into the fewest, smallest cartons that hold them, and pallet goods onto pallets. Mark products as pallet, oversize, dangerous goods, dropship only or pickup only.
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Dropship suppliers
Products a supplier sends straight to your customer ship separately, and the ERP notes say what each supplier sends.
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Split between warehouses
A line one warehouse can’t fill can ship from another that has it, with each warehouse’s shipment priced separately.
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Freight terms per account
Your rates, free freight, their own carrier account with the account number on the order, or freight quoted on every order.
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Questions for the driver
Ask about site access, a lift or after-hours delivery. Answers go on the order and in its ERP notes.
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Installation
Offer installation at a price per unit. Buyers tick it per line at checkout, and it goes to your ERP with its item code.
Freight you can check before it goes live
Preview shows what an order would cost to ship for any account and address, how it’s packed, and which rules changed it. Switch freight on at checkout when you’re happy.
- Zones by state, postcode range or prefix
- Table rates, carrier rate cards and live rates
- Packing into your own cartons and pallets
- Rules that run from the top
- Freight terms set per account
- Freight sent to your ERP as its own line
Some freight has to be quoted
When a rule or an account’s terms say freight is quoted, the cart goes to your team as a quote request. You add freight and send the quote back for the buyer to accept online.
Shipping and freight questions
Can buyers see freight before they place an order?
Yes. Checkout lists each delivery method for their address with its price, starting on the cheapest, and the cart shows the cheapest freight to their default address.
Can we use our carrier’s contract rates?
Yes. Upload your carrier’s postcode zones and prices between zones as two CSV files, and add the fuel levy and cubic factor from the card. Nothing changes unless every row checks out, and Check a price shows what a weight costs between two postcodes.
Do you support live carrier rates?
Yes. A delivery method can use live rates from a carrier, and falls back to your table rates if the carrier doesn’t answer.
How is cubic weight worked out?
From each product’s dimensions and the cubic factor you set, such as 250 kg per cubic metre for road freight. Rates can charge by weight, cubic weight, or chargeable weight, which is the greater of the two, as carriers charge.
Where do product weights and sizes come from?
Usually your ERP, for one unit as sold. You can change them on a product’s page, and your change stays through syncs until you go back to the ERP’s values.
How does freight get into our ERP?
As its own line on the order, with the ERP item code you choose. Surcharges and installation are sent as lines of their own, and answers to delivery questions go in the order’s ERP notes.
Can some customers get free freight or use their own carrier?
Yes. Each account can be on your rates, free freight, their own carrier account, or freight quoted on every order. With their own carrier account, freight is free and the carrier and account number go on the order.
Do our custom charges still apply?
Yes. Custom charges, such as a small-order fee, still apply alongside freight, each sent to your ERP with its own item code.
Can we test it before customers see it?
Yes. Preview shows what an order would cost to ship for an account and address, how it’s packed, and which rules changed it. Freight is only worked out at checkout once you switch it on.
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