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Shipping Addresses and Fulfillment - Managing Delivery for Accounts

Shipping Addresses and Fulfillment - Managing Delivery for Accounts

Accounts can have multiple shipping addresses for use during checkout and invoice creation. The fulfillment system supports several delivery methods including third-party shipping, staff delivery, customer pickup, in-house purchasing, and digital delivery.

Managing Shipping Addresses

Each account can have multiple shipping addresses stored in the Account Shipping Addresses data table. Each address includes:

  • First Name and Last Name
  • Company
  • Address Line 1 and Address Line 2
  • City
  • Zip/Postal Code
  • State/Province — selected from the States table (for US addresses) or entered as a province name
  • Country — selected from the Countries table

Setting the Primary Shipping Address

The account's Primary Shipping Address field identifies the default address used for new orders. Set this on the account record to the preferred shipping destination.

Adding and Editing Addresses

To manage shipping addresses:

  1. Navigate to the Account Shipping Addresses data table through the Data section of the portal
  2. Add a new record or edit an existing address
  3. Set the Account field to link the address to the correct account

When creating invoices using the Invoice tool, the Ship/Tax Address dropdown is populated from the account's saved shipping addresses. The help text includes a link to manage addresses: "Select an address if shipping is required or tax is to be calculated."

Shipping Methods

Shipping methods define the available delivery options and their cost calculations. They are managed in the Order Ship Methods data table. Each method includes:

  • Name and Description — displayed to the customer during checkout
  • Base Charge — a fixed charge applied regardless of order contents
  • Charge Per Charge — a charge multiplied by the order total (percentage-based)
  • Charge Per Weight — a charge multiplied by the total order weight
  • Days Min and Days Max — estimated delivery time range shown to the customer
  • Domestic — available for US shipping destinations
  • International — available for non-US shipping destinations
  • Weight Min and Weight Max — weight range this method applies to
  • Allow Price Level Free Shipping — when checked, orders qualifying for price-level free shipping can use this method at no charge
  • Tracking URI — URL template for tracking shipments

Shipping Calculation Methods

The Use Method field on each shipping method determines how charges are calculated:

  • Custom (1) — uses the base charge, per-charge, and per-weight formulas defined on the record
  • UPS API (2) — calculates shipping via UPS rate API (legacy)
  • ShipStation (3) — calculates shipping via ShipStation integration

ShipStation Integration

For methods using ShipStation:

  • ShipStation Service Code — the service code in ShipStation
  • ShipStation Carrier Code — the carrier code in ShipStation

When ShipStation is configured, shipping labels and tracking information are managed through the ShipStation platform. Tracking details appear on the order:

  • ShipStation Tracking Number
  • ShipStation Carrier
  • ShipStation Service

Item Delivery Configuration

Each item configures which delivery methods are available:

  • Allow Ship — the item can be shipped via third-party carrier
  • Allow Digital Delivery — digital delivery with no physical shipping
  • Allow Delivery — the item can be delivered by staff
  • Allow Pickup — the customer can pick up the item
  • Allow In-House — the item can be ordered for in-house consumption (dine-in)

These settings determine which fulfillment methods are available during checkout and invoice creation.

Item Shipping Fields

  • Weight — the shipping weight, used in per-weight shipping calculations
  • Fixed Ship Charge — when set, this fixed amount per unit is used instead of calculated shipping. Useful for items with predictable shipping costs (e.g., flat-rate envelopes).

Shipping on Invoices

When creating an invoice with the Invoice tool, shipping can be configured in three ways:

  • No Shipping — no shipping charge is added
  • Calculate Shipping Charge — the system calculates shipping based on item weights, the selected shipping method, and the shipping address
  • Set Shipping Charge — enter a manual shipping amount

For orders with calculated shipping, the ship charge override field on the order can be used to manually adjust the calculated amount.

Free Shipping via Price Levels

Customers who qualify for price-level free shipping (based on their group membership or pricing tier) may receive free shipping on methods that have Allow Price Level Free Shipping checked. The order records whether this was applied:

  • Price Level Free Shipping — indicates the order qualified for free shipping

Fulfillment Methods on Orders

Each order's Fulfillment Method field indicates how it will be delivered:

  • Not Selected (0) — delivery method not yet chosen
  • No Physical Delivery (1) — digital item or service, no physical delivery needed
  • Ship Third Party (2) — shipped via third-party carrier (USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.)
  • In-House Purchase (3) — consumed on-site (dine-in restaurant orders, etc.)
  • Staff Delivery (4) — delivered by a staff member
  • Customer Pickup (5) — the customer picks up the order in person

Fulfillment-Specific Fields

  • Customer Pickup Name — the person authorized to pick up the order (for customer pickup orders)
  • Staff Member — the staff member assigned to the order (for staff delivery or tracking purposes)
  • Order Table — the table number (for in-house/dine-in orders)
  • Seat Count — the number of unique seats across all line items (for in-house orders)

Fulfillment Workflow

The fulfillment process follows this sequence:

  1. Fulfillment Requested — the order is flagged for fulfillment (dateFulfillmentRequested)
  2. Fulfilled — the order has been prepared and is ready for delivery (dateFulfilled)
  3. Delivered — the customer has received the order (dateDelivered)

Individual line items also track their own fulfillment dates (dateFulfillmentRequested, dateFulfilled) for cases where items in the same order are fulfilled separately.

Fulfillment Notifications

Items and the system can be configured to send notifications at fulfillment events:

  • Send Fulfillment Notification on items — when checked, a notification is sent when the item is fulfilled
  • Fulfillment Notification Group on items — specifies the group that receives the notification

Station notifications can also be triggered on fulfillment events for in-house operations (kitchen displays, printers, SMS, etc.).

Address Snapshots on Orders

When an order is completed, the shipping, billing, and contact addresses are copied (snapshotted) onto the order record. This preserves the addresses as they were at the time of the order, even if the account's addresses are later changed. Each snapshot includes the full address fields (name, company, address lines, city, state, zip, country, email, phone).

Tips

  • Encourage accounts to keep their shipping addresses current to avoid delivery issues
  • Use fixed ship charges on items when shipping costs are predictable and you want to avoid calculation complexity
  • For in-house ordering, configure items with "Allow In-House" and set up station notifications to alert kitchen or service areas
  • The ShipStation integration automates tracking number assignment — check order records for tracking details after shipment
  • When an order's shipping seems incorrect, check whether a ship charge override was applied