eCommerce app - Local Delivery option

Hi Balbooa,

(Just reposting as a new topic, as this request was originally tagged onto another post.)

I'd love to use the eCommerce app for a new customer, but they also need local delivery functionality. I.e. only allow a delivery option, if the delivery address is local to the seller.

This can be implemented (in the UK at least) simply by:

- In the delivery, have a new option to "restrict by post code". The restricted postcode(s) can be as specific or general as required.
E.g. restricted postcode = "CM16", which would allow this delivery option to be available for all customer deliveries starting with the postcode "CM16". The restricted postcode could be more general "CT" or more specific "CM16E" - it would be up to the user to decide the scope.

- Multiple post codes could be separated with a ";" "CM16;CM17" etc (But I'm sure you can make this nicer

- The beauty of this approach is, the logic is a simple string comparison. No distances need to computed, no maps drawn etc. The delivery restrictive postcode either matches the start of the delivery address (and the delivery option is allowed), or it doesn't (and that delivery option is not available).

This would be a simple, but great addition to the eCommerce store. A lot of small businesses are looking for this functionality in their online store. E.g. make the delivery themselves (if the delivery is local), otherwise use a courier.

Please consider this useful feature, I believe it would be a big win, for relatively little work.

Many thanks,
Marc

Hi Marc,

Is that possible to send us a link to a real example?

Regards,
Artem, Balbooa.com

somthing like this
support.ecwid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016693140-Local-delivery

Hi Artem,

Other eCommerce software works just like this, but rather than pasting a link their site in the forum, I'll send via support.

Many thanks,
Marc

Hi there!

Marc, I have received your email, thank you!

To be honest, I had no experience with the delivery system in UK and calculating shipping prices by postcode, it's something new for me. I found some London coffee shops and played with their shipping options.

Okay, now is a little bit clear, on the checkout page should be an input field that validates postcodes and assign shipping price depending on entered postcode.


But, why not use regions for postal codes in Gridbox? I think for local shops it's a great solution. You can set a unique price for each postcode



On the checkout page, the user should be able to select his postcode from dropdown


Regards,
Artem, Balbooa.com

Hi Artem,

I believed "regions" in Gridbox were for larger areas e.g. country (UK), city (London) etc. So you can use postcodes as well?

How does this work? Does Gridbox take the text in the Available Region field, and allows that Shipping if any of the available region text items are within the delivery address? So if I added "CT16" as an Available Region, would that allow an order for the shipping address with a postcode "CT163DF"?

If I have time tomorrow, I'll create a test site and have a play with the eCommerce app and shipping.

Thanks
Marc

Hi Artem,

Fallen over at the first hurdle ... I cannot seem to set shipping up to test out shipping by regions.

So I've set up the tax, and manually added "United Kingdom" as the country and "manually added "CT17" and "CT16" as the regions.



Then created and assigned three shipping methods:
Local delivery (CT17) - and assigned to the CT17 region
Local delivery (CT16) - and assigned to the CT16 region
Default flat rate - assigned to the United Kingdom, but no region



However, when creating an order, I don't get any shipping options? I've read the general documentation for setting up the shop and shipping, but I'm obviously missing something.




What needs to change, so the shipping methods are visible?

Many thanks,
Marc

Marc,

And the last step, add the field with the type County to the checkout



Regards,
Artem, Balbooa.com

Hi Artem,

I've had a play around with the existing country / region, as a method of selecting local deliveries. Unfortunately, however, this appears to be impractical.

1) If using full postcodes as a region, there would be too many to list. For example, within just 3km or my postcode, there are 699 postcodes surrounding it. A 3km local delivery zone is not that large.

2) The user would also have to enter their "postcode / zip code" as part of the delivery address, and then select their postcode for a second time as the "region". This is not only a waste of time for the user, but can lead to accidental mistakes.

3) The store owner would have to manually inspect each order, to ensure the customer had selected the correct postcode for the region, and if they haven't, spend additional time rectifying the order (possible refunds, or asking for additional monies) because the delivery fee was incorrect.


The configuration for local delivery has to be practical, and also rule based - not relying on the customer to correctly select "local delivery" only if their delivery is actually local.


As mentioned in this post, this functionality is very important for shops which take orders for the local area - so they can offer free delivery, or charge a small fee. In my opinion, the simplest approach is to perform string matching on the postcode - along the lines that I've described. As mentioned, the ecwid platform has a simple "ZIP/postal codes (advanced settings)" feature, likewise similar functionality through plugins are available for Hikashop, j2store & EShop.

Could you please consider adding this functionality, as it would be very helpful for local businesses. Over the next month, I have a new florist website commissioned and they need the ability to have a local delivery flat rate for certain postcodes, as well as a national courier for everything else and I would have loved to have used Gridbox.

Many thanks
Marc

Marc,

Okay, we will try to find a solution as soon as possible.

Regards,
Artem, Balbooa.com

Thanks Artem. Just to confirm the essentials to make this work:

1) the customer should not be presented with a local delivery option, if the order's delivery address is outside the shipping method' restricted area. This will prevent customers from selecting local shipping, when the delivery address is actually outside the local delivery area.

2) entering every individual postcode to define a local delivery area, wouldn't be workable. The shipping method's restricted zip/postcode, should allow both full and partial postcodes, so the owner can easily specify the local area. E.g. some other platforms make use of '?' or '*' wildcards, and some just the length of the entered postcode. E.g. CM16*,CM17* or simply CM16;CM17 - to include all CM16 and CM17 postcodes for a given local shipping method.

Thank-you for taking the time to listen to me, and consider my suggestions.

Okay, we will take into account your wishes!

Regards,
Artem, Balbooa.com