As an ecommerce business, you might be tempted to lean on simple solutions wherever you can. While simplicity is beautiful, it’s not always the best business decision.
Exhibit A: flat rate shipping. It’s easy to wrap your brain around, and customers love it. So why isn’t it a fit for some ecommerce stores? Let’s dive in.
What Is Table Rate Shipping?
Table rate shipping is a way to calculate custom shipping rates based on details like order value, weight, quantity, destination, product type, or customer group.
It’s called “table rate” shipping because your rates are usually organized around a set of conditions. If an order matches a certain rule, it gets a certain shipping rate.
Say you’re a small ecommerce business in Texas selling custom-printed clothing, hats, and gifts. Some customers buy one-off items with a family name, inside joke, or funny saying. They order small quantities and not very often.
Other customers place larger orders more regularly. Think kids’ sports teams, company events, school fundraisers, and local businesses.
If you use flat-rate shipping, both customers could end up paying the same shipping fee, even though their orders cost very different amounts to ship. That does not make sense for you, and it does not feel fair to them.
That is where table rate shipping comes in.
With table rate shipping, you can create shipping rules that calculate rates based on the actual order scenario. For example, you might charge one rate for orders under $50, another for orders over $100, or different rates based on weight, shipping zone, or product category.
Flat-rate shipping is simple, but it can quietly eat into your margins or overcharge your customers. Table rate shipping gives you more control, better accuracy, and a checkout experience that makes a lot more sense.
Table Rate Shipping vs Flat Rate Shipping
The main difference between table rate shipping and flat rate shipping is control.
With flat-rate shipping, you charge one set fee for shipments that fall into the same location, product category, or shipping method. You can have more than one flat rate available, such as different rates for different shipping speeds, but the rate itself stays the same once the customer qualifies for it.
Flat-rate shipping does a great job of keeping things streamlined and straightforward, but it doesn’t always give customers the most accurate or affordable rate.
Some customers might find your flat rate a major bargain, like someone across the country placing a large order. Others, like local buyers or customers placing smaller orders, may get a much less appealing deal. Meanwhile, as the merchant, you’re absorbing any extra shipping costs that crop up, with no easy way to pass those costs on fairly.
With table rate shipping, you get to define specific rates for specific scenarios.
You can create rules around destination, shipping zones, carrier availability, product weight, item quantity, product category, price, and plenty of other circumstances.
Simply put, table rate shipping puts your shipping rules into a clean, consistent structure. It helps you protect your margins, give customers more accurate rates, and keep your checkout experience from feeling like a guessing game.
What to Consider When Setting Up Table Rate Shipping
So, what should you consider when setting up table rate shipping?
Essentially, you’re looking for the right balance between what works for your business and what feels fair to your customers. That usually comes down to speed, convenience, affordability, and accuracy.
Quantity
It might sound simple, but how many items are being shipped out? Something as obvious as product quantity can have a major effect on your shipping and how much it costs you and your customers. Overlooking the basics like this can make a shipping table irrelevant, so it’s important to start here.
For example, the Little League team who ordered 40+ t-shirts should probably be charged more for shipping than the individual who orders just one product. Again, it may seem obvious, but it’s a smart place to start.
Weight
Another thing to consider when setting up table rate shipping is product weight.
Shipping an item made of ceramic versus a t-shirt is going to create a significant weight difference. This is something you need to account for whether you’re shipping with traditional carriers or freight carriers.
Weight also pairs closely with quantity. The more items you’re shipping, the more weight matters, and the more it can raise the shipping rate.
You’ll also want to think about dimensional weight, especially if you sell bulky items that do not weigh much. A box of foam koozies might be light, but it still takes up room on a truck. On the other hand, a shipment of metal trophies might have the same quantity and dimensions, but carry very different shipping costs because of the weight difference.
Don’t forget to factor this in, as your carriers will certainly remember.
Shipping Groups
It’s unlikely you’ll want a shipping rule to apply to every item you sell. For instance, you would probably ship books differently than you would ship a bookshelf. This is where shipping groups come in. Think of them like you think of categories on your ecommerce platform. They’re a simple way to group together products or SKUs that have the same shipping rules.
As a big t-shirt seller, all your t-shirts can probably be put into the same shipping group. Whether a person wants to purchase 16 different shirts or 16 identical ones, their shipping costs will be the same thanks to your shipping groups.
Shipping Zones
The farther out your customer is located, the higher the shipping cost will usually be. Defining shipping zones can help you manage that fluctuation.
Shipping zones are geographic areas that you define, then use in your rate calculations. For example, you could offer free shipping only within zone 1, which would make sense if your warehouse were also located there. Shipping zones alone don’t define the rate, but they help decide which rules should apply.
You can define a shipping zone as a group of countries, regions, states, or even ZIP codes, then calculate rates based on the specific rules you’ve created for that zone.
Depending on what your products are, you might even want to exclude shipping to certain zones, such as across international borders. For example, our merchant in Texas might offer free shipping within the state, but charge as soon as products cross the Texas border.
Shipping Method
Customers want options, like same-day delivery, local pickup, curbside pickup, and faster shipping methods. However, that doesn’t mean you’re able to offer all of them at once. At least, not for every product or every customer.
Next-day shipping might make sense for a book. But a bookshelf may need to travel across the country in the back of a big truck, which is an inherently costly trip.
Problems like this can lead to lost revenue if they’re not kept in check, simply because some shipping methods are not efficient for every order. That’s why it’s important to pay close attention to which shipping methods work with which product groups, zones, and order types.
What Types of Businesses Benefit from Table Rate Shipping?
Not every business needs table rate shipping, and you may be way too busy running your company to mess with something that sounds complicated.
Fair enough.
To help you figure out if it’s worth your time, here are a few business types that may get the most out of table rate shipping. If one of these sounds like you, it may be worth a closer look.
Companies with a Small Budget
Do you hang on to every penny in the bank because your budget is tight? Shaving off extra shipping expenses could help you out tremendously. Flat rate shipping is simpler, but could lead to you losing money. Considering your budget, you’ll want to establish rules with shipping tables so every single cent is accounted for.
Smaller Inventory
While shipping tables seem complicated, the fewer items you have to sell, the easier they are to set up. If you have a smaller inventory, it may not take nearly as much time as you think it will. Once you’re all set up, it should be just as simple to maintain and update.
Similar Items
If all your merchandise is roughly the same, there may not be as much time involved with setting up your shipping table rates as you think. For example, if you sell paperback books, many of them are going to be a similar size and weight, and may not need separate rules. If you can lump most of your merchandise together, it should be relatively simple to set up.
Limited Checkout Scenarios
You know your business better than anyone else. That means you probably have a good idea of what the average order looks like, including order size, product type, and shipping destination.
If you’ve got a relatively small number of potential shipping scenarios, you can quickly and easily set up rules to cover all of them. This frees you up to grow other aspects of your business rather than dealing with shipping problems.
Frequently Asked Questions About Table Rate Shipping
What is table rate shipping?
Table rate shipping is a way to calculate shipping rates based on specific rules, such as order weight, price, quantity, destination, shipping zone, product type, or customer group.
How does table rate shipping work?
Table rate shipping works by matching an order to a set of rules. Once the order meets certain conditions, such as a specific weight range or delivery zone, the correct shipping rate is shown at checkout.
What is the difference between table rate shipping and flat rate shipping?
Flat rate shipping charges the same fee for a defined shipping option. Table rate shipping changes the rate based on the details of the order, which gives merchants more control and customers more accurate pricing.
Is table rate shipping good for small businesses?
Yes, table rate shipping can be a good fit for small businesses, especially if shipping costs vary by order size, product weight, delivery location, or product type. It can help protect margins without making checkout feel overly complicated.
When should I use table rate shipping?
You should consider table rate shipping if flat-rate shipping is causing you to lose money, overcharge customers, or offer shipping options that don’t match how your business actually fulfills orders.
Final Thoughts
While your rate table might take a bit of elbow grease to set up, it’s important, and very well worth it, to spend the time required to understand your shipping strategy and opportunities for improvement.
Your shipping strategy should match the way you operate. You don’t cut corners in any other aspect of your business, and shipping should be no different.
Still not convinced rate tables are worth the effort? When you use ShipperHQ, you get the convenience of uploading your data in a simple CSV file. This allows you to keep accurate records of past shipments for useful insights, as well as import and implement rules right away.
Once you’re set up, shipping rates are automated and customized for efficiency.
Beyond powerful table rate functionality, your ShipperHQ dashboard is full of tools to make your shipping smarter and save you money. From delivery date and time options at checkout, to live rates and address validation, our suite of tools helps you create a better ecommerce shipping experience from start to finish.
