Ecommerce Considerations:
Shipping Charges

One of the challenges of adapting an existing business to the web is shipping. Many business are accustomed to calculating shipping cost with complex systems of rules and exceptions that are beyond the capability of nearly all ecommerce systems. To make an easy and inexpensive shift to ecommerce requires adapting to the shipping methods that work well on the web instead of trying to force the website to adapt to your existing shipping methods.

The shipping methods most familiar to web users are:

• A fixed dollar amount per item
• Percentage of total sale
• Flat rate
• Tiered flat rate
• Real carrier rates based on weight and destination

Most inexpensive shopping cart programs and services can't handle something like "Buy two, get one free" or "Free shipping on orders over $100". Choosing a shipping method that can't be handled by common shopping cart software can lead to expensive custom development and may end up confusing your users.

Instead, sit down with your developer and agree on a shipping method that works for you and your shopping cart, before you start work on your ecommerce website.