Configuring Shipping Rate Filtering for Pickup Points

Introduction: What is Shipping Rate Filtering and Why Use It?

Shipping rate filtering refers to the process of dynamically showing or hiding specific shipping rate options presented to customers during checkout, based on whether they have chosen home delivery or a pickup point option.

Implementing filtering logic becomes necessary in certain scenarios to ensure customers see only relevant and applicable shipping costs and methods. Common reasons include:

1. Offering Distinct Pickup Rates: You may want to offer pickup at a different price point than home delivery. For example, offering a cheaper "Standard Pickup" rate ($2.99) versus a "Standard Home Delivery" rate ($4.99). Filtering ensures only the relevant rate appears based on the customer's choice.
2. Managing Different Service Levels: You might offer specific service levels for pickup that differ from home delivery. For example, offering "Standard Pickup (3-5 days)" but not offering an "Express Pickup (Next Day)" option, while still offering "Express Home Delivery". Filtering hides the unavailable express pickup rate.
3. Handling Multi-Carrier Setups: If you use different carriers for different delivery types (home vs. pickup) or for different pickup networks. For example, you use Royal Mail for all standard home deliveries, but all your shipments going to DPD Pickup Points must be shipped via DPD. If a customer selects a DPD Pickup Point, your checkout must hide the Royal Mail shipping rate and only show DPD shipping rates.
4. Preventing Illogical Options: Ensuring non-applicable rates are hidden. For example, hiding all home delivery rates (like "Next Day Home Delivery") entirely when a pickup point has been definitively selected.

When is Filtering Necessary? The HubBox Launch Experience Matters

Crucially, the need for you, the retailer, to implement custom shipping rate filtering logic often depends on how the choice between home delivery and pickup is presented to the customer via HubBox. This is referred to as the "Launch Experience":

"Shipping Method" Launch Experience

• How it works: The option to choose HubBox Pickup appears directly within the list of shipping methods alongside your standard home delivery options (e.g., "Standard Home Delivery," "Express Home Delivery," "Pickup Point").

• Filtering Need: In this scenario, explicit filtering logic built by the retailer is often unnecessary. When the customer selects the "Pickup Point" shipping method itself, the platform typically understands this choice inherently defines the delivery method and associated rate. The other rates are implicitly not chosen.

"Toggles" (or Shipping Address) Launch Experience

• How it works: The customer chooses between "Home Delivery" and "Pickup" before the detailed shipping methods and rates are displayed. This is often done using buttons, toggles, or tabs presented near the shipping address input area.

• Filtering Need: When using this launch experience, shipping rate filtering logic implemented by the retailer is almost always required. After the customer selects "Pickup" via the toggle, your ecommerce platform needs to:

  • Detect that "Pickup" was chosen.
  • Filter the list of available shipping rates to only show those applicable to the selected pickup method/network (e.g., show "Standard Pickup" hide "Standard Home Delivery," "Express Home Delivery").
  • Conversely, if "Home Delivery" is chosen, hide the pickup-specific rates.

Key Considerations for Implementation

If you are using the "Toggles" launch experience or have complex multi-carrier rules requiring filtering even with the "Shipping Method" launch, your development team will need to investigate and implement logic based on these points:

Identifying the Pickup Choice

• How will your backend/checkout logic know the customer selected "Pickup" via the toggle mechanism? Determine where this state is stored or how it's passed.
• Is it stored in the user's session? Passed as a hidden form field? Set via a JavaScript variable accessible by your checkout scripts? Is specific data returned by the HubBox widget upon selection that your system can capture?

Accessing and Modifying Shipping Rate Logic

• Within your specific ecommerce platform, identify where and how you can programmatically access the list of available shipping rates before they are presented to the customer.
• Determine the mechanism for applying conditional logic to filter this list based on the identified pickup choice.
• Does your platform offer specific API hooks or events for modifying shipping rates? Can you configure rules in the admin panel? Do you need to override core functionality or use a specific shipping module/extension?

Defining Clear Filtering Rules

• Precisely map out the conditions for showing/hiding each shipping rate.
• Example Rules:
  • IF delivery_choice == 'PICKUP' THEN SHOW rates ['PickupStandard', 'PickupNextDay'] AND HIDE rates ['HomeDeliveryStandard', 'HomeDeliveryExpress']
  • IF delivery_choice == 'HOME' THEN SHOW rates ['HomeDeliveryStandard', 'HomeDeliveryExpress'] AND HIDE rates ['PickupStandard', 'PickupNextDay']
  • IF delivery_choice == 'PICKUP' AND selected_network == 'UPS' THEN SHOW rates ['UPS_Access_Point'] AND HIDE rates ['DHL_Pickup', 'HomeDeliveryStandard', ...]

Handling Rate Display and Updates

• Ensure that once the filtering logic is applied, the correct (filtered) list of shipping rates is dynamically and clearly displayed to the customer in the checkout UI.
• Consider how updates happen if the customer changes their mind (e.g., toggles back from Pickup to Home Delivery). The rates should refresh accordingly.

Next Steps: Platform-Specific Implementation

The technical methods for implementing shipping rate filtering vary significantly depending on your ecommerce platform. Detailed instructions, potential code examples, and platform-specific considerations can be found in the relevant documentation within Console.

Need Support?

If you need assistance understanding whether filtering is required for your setup or discussing strategies for implementing the logic, please contact the HubBox Client Support or Integrations team for guidance.