Product Shipping Discounts
You can create and apply two types of product shipping discounts: free shipping and fixed-price shipping.
In a free shipping discount, shoppers are charged a fixed shipping price. In a fixed-price shipping discount, shoppers are charged a fixed shipping cost for each eligible product. For example, a shopper has three products in a cart eligible for a $0.99 fixed-price shipping promotion. The total promotional shipping cost for the three products is $2.97.
If you use customized shipping logic, this feature might not be useful. In B2C Commerce, product specific shipping costs (fixed or surcharge) are optional. If products have this extra cost, you can configure this discount type.
You can apply a product shipping discounts to Without qualifying product, With number (quantity) of qualifying products, and With amount (value) of qualifying products. They can't apply to a Buy X/Get Y or Buy X for Total promotion.
Product shipping discounts share some similarities with other product discounts. You can define tiers, where a product discount with at least one free or fixed-price shipping discount is considered a product shipping promotion.
You can control product shipping discounts (see Promotion Compatibility Rules). You can associate product shipping discounts with purchase conditions, such as value or quantity of products. You can combine product shipping discounts with other product discounts, such as 10% off product price.
Product shipping discounts also have some differences from other product discounts. Always associate a product shipping discount with one or more shipping methods. If a product isn't using the associated shipping method, it doesn't qualify. A promotion with shipping discount tiers can have a shipping method list of all applicable methods.
A product line item that qualifies for a product shipping promotion can't count towards the merchandise total for a With Amount of Shipment Merchandise Total shipping promotion. For example, you offer the promotion Free Shipping on Winter Coats, with a maximum application of one. You also offer the shipping promotion $0.99 Shipping for Orders about $300. The shopper adds two $200 dollar coats to their cart. One of the coats qualifies for first promotion, free shipping, but can't count towards the merchandise total for the second shipping promotion. Therefore, the $0.99 shipping promotion doesn't apply.
A product shipping discount overrides all product shipping costs, including fixed-price and surcharge shipping costs.
| Discounted product type | Shipping discount | How the discount appears in the cart |
|---|---|---|
| With product-specific shipping costs | Negative price adjustment. | ($5.00) |
| Without product-specific shipping costs | Positive price adjustment | $5.00 |
In both cases, the product is excluded from the merchandise total for shipment-level shipping cost lookup.
Applying a Product Shipping Discount
Product shipping discounts are product promotions, not shipping promotions. They are compatible with other product discounts and applied before shipping costs are calculated. Product shipping discounts can't be stacked, so only one product shipping discount, the highest ranking discount, can apply to a single product line item.For a promotion with a maximum application, B2C Commerce determines which qualifying products in the cart are selected for discounts. First it prioritizes all qualifying products. For non-shipping product promotions, products with the highest cost, after product discounts, are selected before products with lower costs. This provides the highest possible savings to the shopper. There isn't a simple order for product shipping discounts because products can have an individual shipping cost. However, the following rules provide the best value to shopper:
- Items without previous product shipping discounts are selected before items with previous product shipping discounts.
- If both items have previous product shipping discounts, the item with the higher product shipping cost, after previous discounts, is selected first.
- If neither item has previous product shipping discounts, the item with the higher product cost is selected first.
- If there's a tie after rules 1–3, products with a lower position in the basket are selected before products with higher positions.
- If there’s still a tie, items appear on the same product line item. Items with lower item numbers are selected before items with high item numbers.
Example
You run five promotions.
- Free shipping on kid's footwear
- $1.00 shipping on women's apparel
- $0.50 surcharge on imported jeans
- $2.00 shipping on handbag with a maximum application of 1
- $0.99 shipping promotion on orders above $180
Shopper's cart:
| Product | # | Product price | Product shipping discount | Product-specific shipping cost | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red kids flip flops | 1 | $10.00 | Free | $10.00 | |
| Misses floral dress | 1 | $20.00 | $1.00 | $21.00 | |
| Children’s black jeans | 1 | $30.00 | ($1.00) | $0.50 | $29.50 |
| Leather handbag | 2 | $70.00 | $1.00 | $141.00 | |
| 200.00 | $201.50 | ||||
| Merchandise total | $200.00 | ||||
| Merchandise total for shipping cost | $70.00 | ||||
| Shipment shipping cost | $7.00 | ||||
| Total shipping cost | $8.50 |
The $0.99 shipping promotion doesn't apply because the merchandise total is < $180.