Rateshopping is the process of
comparing, or "shopping" rates from multiple
carriers or services at once. This allows you
to quickly decide on what options to use for a
given shipment.
Rateshops are a standard component
of Shipstore, and is available to all
customers. The below article details the
process of creating and configuring rateshops
in Shipstore, as well as how to use the
rateshops once they are configured.
Creating/modifying a rateshop
Rateshops are created and modified
by clicking the Admin page from the left-hand
navigation in Shipstore and selecting Profiles
below it once it expands.
You will then select the profile you
wish to edit by choosing the pencil "edit"
icon beneath Actions.
Once you are in the profile options,
click the Carriers/Services dropdown and
choose Rateshops.
To add a rateshop:
- On the Rateshops window, click the blue
"+Add" button. This will bring up a pop-up
where you may configure the rateshop.
- Enter the name you would like to call your
rateshop in place of "New Rateshop" near
the top.
- From the dropdown on the top-left, choose
which service list to display the rateshop
in (Small Parcel, LTL/TL, or both).
- Optional - Set the API Key field to
the desired value.
- Add the services you want to shop in the
rateshop by moving them, from Available
Services to Current Services.
- Optional - Once a service
is added, you may also specify extra
options this service needs to use when
shopping. (i.e. residential
delivery)
- Save the rateshop by clicking the blue save
icon, and then close by clicking the gray
"X". Your rateshop should now appear in
the Rateshops window.
To edit a rateshop:
- On the Rateshops window, click the pencil "edit" icon to the right of the rateshop you would like to modify. This will bring up a pop-up where you can edit your rateshop.
- Modify the Current/Available service lists as needed.
- Optional - Update the API Key field to the desired value.
- Save the rateshop by clicking the blue save icon, and then close by clicking the gray "X". Your rateshop should now appear in the Rateshops window.
- Optional - Once a service is added, you can also specify extra options this service needs to use when shopping. (i.e. residential delivery)
Using a rateshop
Once the rateshop(s) are created on the admin screen, you can start using the on the Shipping and/or Order Entry pages. Rateshops are listed at the bottom of the Services dropdown on these screens and can be sorted via the admin screen if needed.
When selecting a rateshop, the system will automatically shop the configured options for the rateshop on the profile anytime you press Rate (F9) or Ship (F10). Rating with the rateshop selected will return a results screen similar to the following:
You can choose the desired result from this window to accept that result and select the service listed.
Alternatively, if you press Ship (F10) with the rateshop selected, the system will choose the lowest-cost option that returns from the rateshop and print the label in one transaction.
Additional considerations
Since rateshops are created at the profile level, you can re-use the same API key for multiple rateshops as long as they are on separate profiles. This allows you to create more generic API keys (i.e. "GROUND") that you can then tailor differently for each profile in the system. For example, one profile's rateshop can have UPS, FedEx and USPS, while another profile only has UPS and FedEx for the same rateshop code.
Due to legal reasons, Shipstore cannot display rateshop results from multiple carriers in a single results window if UPS is included. If UPS is included in your rateshop, the system will automatically hide the rates for all carriers that didn't return the winning service (so if FedEx Ground is the cheapest, all non-FedEx options will show $0 total). Results will still be sorted in order of cost; you just won't be able to see the rate unless you select the option manually.