Warehouse Locations
For the Big Post app or plugin to provide a shipping quote, you must declare the shipping information, including the pickup location for each product in the Custom Integration System (CIS).
Setting your pickup locations can operate differently based on the e-commerce platform your store is built on, whether it's Shopify or WooCommerce.
WordPress / WooCommerce
For WooCommerce users, the pickup/despatch address must be added to the CIS by creating a 'Warehouse'. Then, all products shipping from this address must be assigned to that warehouse.
Navigation: Big Post CIS > Settings > Warehouses
Shopify
For Shopify users, there are two distinct methods to set up pickup locations for the Big Post shipping app, and both operate slightly differently:
- Shopify Locations: Utilising the locations saved on Shopify, that are actively used in your Shopify Shipping Profiles and Shopify inventory.
- CIS Warehouses: Manually input your warehouse/pickup address into the CIS and assign the warehouses to your individual products.
Multiple Warehouse Locations on Shopify
The Big Post Shipping Shopify app can be used by retailers with multiple warehouses, but there are associated and manageable risks involved. It's up to you to decide whether using multiple warehouses on our app aligns with your business needs. Here's a detailed look at these risks and how they can be addressed.
Shopify's 10-second shipping calculation limit during checkout can be a challenge when using multiple warehouses in the Big Post Shipping app as this can cause quotes to time-out. However, we can minimise this risk by leveraging Shopify's Order Routing Rules, disabling specific Shipping Types, or restricting unwanted carriers.
Another aspect to consider is the management of 'split-fulfillment orders', where products are stocked at different warehouses and orders need to be fulfilled from multiple locations. By utilising Shopify's Order Routing Rules, the Big Post Shipping app can handle such orders, as Shopify can determine which products should be quoted from which pickup location, ensuring accurate shipping rates and smooth order fulfilment.
It's important to note that a higher number of quote requests per transaction increases the risk of timeouts. Therefore, we recommend optimising the app and your Shopify configurations to minimise this risk, ensuring a smoother customer experience during checkout.
For more information on managing app time-outs, please visit: Default Shipping Rates & Shopify Backup Rate
There are two distinct methods to set up pickup locations for the Big Post shipping app, and each operates slightly differently:
- Shopify Locations: Utilising the locations saved on Shopify, that are actively used in your Shopify Shipping Profiles and Shopify inventory.
- CIS Warehouses: Manually input your warehouse/pickup address into the CIS and assign the warehouses to your individual products.
Shopify Locations - Order Routing
Shipping Profiles on Shopify facilitate setting rates from multiple locations and establishing 'Order Routing' rules to automatically manage orders and optimise fulfilment. These rules can be configured to avoid split fulfillments and to route orders from the nearest fulfilment location to the delivery address. This enables Shopify to relay the closest location and receive an appropriate quote from the Big Post Shipping app.
Ideally, Shopify would identify a location from which the entire order can be fulfilled. However, if an order necessitates fulfilment from multiple locations, Shopify will automatically request separate quotes from each fulfilment location and consolidate the results.
Please note that utilising the Shopify Locations does rely on the Shopify system to accurately transmit order information to the CIS and ensure that the Big Post Shipping app provides the correct shipping rate.
Please make sure to thoroughly test this functionality on your store to uncover any potential errors before implementation. Feel free to reach out with any enquiries.
CIS - Warehouses
When an order is available in multiple warehouses (managed via the CIS), the app calculates shipping rates for all enabled job types and for all warehouses, leading to lengthy processing times. This can be challenging within Shopify's 10-second limit and may result in checkout timeouts if all three job types (Residential, Business, and Depot) are enabled.
If you decide to add another warehouse, it's advisable to use only one job type and consider disabling certain carriers from your Big Post account to prevent quote timeouts.
Please note, using CIS Warehouses is not suitable for orders with split fulfillment.
Orders with split fulfillments, using CIS Warehouses, will be quoted from one location, and will cause inaccurate shipping rates for orders with products from different warehouses or shipping profiles.
Please make sure to thoroughly test this functionality on your own store to uncover any potential errors before implementation. Feel free to reach out with any enquiries.
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