Earlier, we’d give priority to the schedules added for shipping methods even if the settings were added for both product categories and shipping methods. But now we allow customers to add both of these in combination, thereby achieving better results for the different schedules that you add for your online store.

Let’s have a look at all the different scenarios of the combinations of different delivery schedules work:

A. Only Shipping Method

This is a scenario where you add settings for only Shipping Methods.

When the product is added to the cart and a shipping method is selected for delivery, then the settings added for that shipping method in the backend will appear.

If the shipping method that is selected in the cart, does not have any settings added in the backend, then the General settings will be applied.

B. Only Product Categories

There are 3 scenarios under this segment:

B.1. Settings added for Product Category A

When the product of Category A is selected in the cart, the settings added for this product category will be applied for the delivery.

 

B.2. Two settings added for Product Category A

When the product of Category A is selected and there are 2 custom settings added for this category, then the last added settings of Category A will be considered.

For instance, say we have added 1st setting for Product Category A, where delivery takes place on Mondays and Tuesdays, and in the 2nd setting, the delivery takes place on Saturdays and Sundays.

Now if the customer adds a product from Category A to the cart then the last added settings will be considered. As per the example we shared above, the calendar on the Checkout page will show Saturdays and Sundays enabled and the rest of all days will be disabled.

 

B.3. Settings added for Product Category A + Settings added for Product Category B

This scenario comprises of 2 products of different categories added with their respective settings.

When a customer adds the product of Category A, then delivery settings added for Category A will be considered on checkout. Similarly, if the product of Category B is selected then the settings of Product Category B will be applied.

In a case where the customer selects products of both categories, i.e: Category A and Category B, then the common settings among them will be considered.

Example: Category A – Art with delivery days as Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Category B – Personalised Gifting with delivery days as Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

If products from both categories are added then delivery days available on the front end will be all Wednesdays. 

C. Product Categories with Shipping Methods

Here, you can select a Shipping Method for Product Categories. This can be done under the Custom Delivery Settings section. When you select Product Categories, a new field of Shipping Methods option is added as shown below:

Adding Shipping method for selected Product Category

This setting enables the selection of a product category and a shipping method in combination.

There are different scenarios considered under this segment which are as follows:

C.1. Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 

If we have added delivery settings for Product Category A and Shipping Method 1 and the customer selects the product of the same Category A and selects the same Shipping Method 1 in the cart, then delivery settings added for Product Category A and Shipping Method 1 will be applicable.

If the customer selects a product of Category A in the cart but does not select the same Shipping Method added to the category, then default delivery schedule settings will be considered.

Example: Category A – Art and Shipping Method 1 – Free Shipping. So, if the customer selects a product of Category A and selects the Flat Rate Shipping option (other than Free Shipping), then default delivery schedule settings will be applied.

 

C.2. (Product Category A + Shipping Method 1) + Product Category A 

If we add the product of Category A to the cart and select Shipping Method 1, then the delivery settings added for Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 will be applicable.

If we add the product of Category A and select Shipping Method 2, then the settings added for Product Category A will be applicable.

Example: Category A – Art + Shipping Method 1 – Free Shipping where delivery takes place on Saturdays and Sundays, Shipping Method 2 – Flat Rate Shipping where delivery takes place on Mondays only, Category A – delivery on Wednesdays only.

So when a customer adds the product of Category Art and selects Free Shipping, then the calendar on checkout will show Saturdays and Sundays enabled.

But when a customer adds the product of Category Art and selects Flat Rate Shipping, then the calendar on checkout will show Wednesdays enabled. This is because settings added for Category A will be applicable.

 

C.3. (Product Category A + Shipping Method 1) + (Product Category A + Shipping Method 2) 

Let’s say you have added settings for combination Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping), where delivery takes place on Saturdays and Sundays. Along with this, you’ve added settings for the combination Product Category A + Shipping Method 2 (Flat Rate Shipping), where delivery takes place on Mondays and Tuesdays.

If a customer adds the product of Category A and selects Shipping Method 1, then the settings added for the combination Product Category A and Shipping Method 1 will be applied. According to our example, when a customer adds the product of Category A and selects Free Shipping, the checkout calendar will show Saturdays and Sundays enabled.

Similarly, if a customer adds the product of Category A and selects Flat Rate Shipping, then the checkout calendar will show Mondays and Tuesdays; as settings added for Category A, and Shipping Method 2 will be applied here.

But, if a customer adds the product of Category A and selects a shipping method other than Shipping Method 1 and Shipping Method 2, then the Default delivery Settings will be considered.

 

C.4. (Product Category A + Shipping Method 1) + Product Category B 

Consider Product Category A is Art, Shipping Method 1 is Free Shipping and Product Category B is Personalised Gifting. The delivery for this is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Settings for Product Category B are set to delivery available on Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

A customer selects a product of Category A and selects Shipping Method 1 during checkout, so the calendar will show settings added for Category A + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping). Hence all Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays will be shown as available for delivery.

If a customer adds a product of Category A but selects Shipping Method other than Shipping Method 1, then Default delivery settings will be applicable.

If the customer adds a product of Category B to the cart and selects Shipping Method other than Shipping Method 1, then the settings of Category B will be considered. This means that all Wednesdays and Saturdays will be enabled in the calendar for taking deliveries.

If the customer adds products of both Category A and Category B to the cart and selects Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping), then common settings will be considered. For example, as mentioned earlier Product Category A delivers on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays while Product Category B delivers on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The common delivery for both the products is Wednesdays. Therefore, all Wednesdays will be enabled in the calendar for taking deliveries.

Let’s say that both your Product Categories do not have a common delivery day between them. For example, Category A delivers on Mondays and Tuesdays while Category B delivers only on Saturdays. If this happens, then the delivery calendar would show no delivery weekdays as enabled. Thus, the customer will not see any available delivery weekdays in their calendar.

Also, if a customer adds products of Category A and Category B both in the cart and selects Shipping Method other than Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) then settings of Category B will be considered, which means all deliveries will be undertaken on only Wednesdays and Saturdays.

 

C.5. (Product Category A + Shipping Method 1) + (Product Category B + Shipping Method 1) 

The delivery for the settings of the combination Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. For combination Product Category B + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping), delivery takes place on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Your customer adds the product of Category A and selects Shipping Method 1, then delivery settings of combination Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) will be applied.

Similarly, if the customer adds the product of Category B and selects Shipping Method 1, then settings of combination Product Category B + Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) will be applied.

But, if the customer adds a product of Category A or Category B in the cart and selects Shipping Method other than Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping), then Default delivery Settings will be considered.

Also, say products of both Categories A and B are added to the cart and Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) is selected, then settings common for both combinations will be applied. Let us understand this scenario with an example as shown below:

Combination 1: Product Category A (Art) and Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) – Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Combination 2: Product Category B (Personalised Gifting) and Shipping Method 1 (Free Shipping) – Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

Settings added for both combinations

Now say we select products of both categories in the cart and select Free Shipping Method as shown below:

Products and Shipping methods on Cart page

The calendar on checkout page will display all Mondays as enabled since the common settings of these combinations would be considered. This is shown in the below calendar:

Calendar showing all Mondays available for delivery

 

C.6. (Product Category A + Shipping Method 1) + (Product Category B + Shipping Method 2) 

In this scenario, there are settings added for 2 Product Categories namely Category A: Art and Category B: Personalised Gifting and 2 Shipping Methods namely Shipping Method 1 – Free Shipping and Shipping Method 2 – Flat Rate Shipping.

Now say the customer adds a product of Category A and selects Shipping Method 1, then custom settings of Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 will be considered.

Similarly, if the customer adds a product of Category B and selects Shipping Method 2, then custom settings of Product Category B + Shipping Method 2 will be considered.

If the customer adds products of both Categories, say Category A and Category B in the cart and selects Shipping Method 1, then the settings added for Product Category A + Shipping Method 1 will be considered.

Likewise, if the customer adds products of both Categories, say Category A and Category B in the cart and selects Shipping Method 2, then the settings added for Product Category B + Shipping Method 2 will be considered.

If the customer adds products from Category A and Category B but selects Shipping Method other than Shipping Method 1 and Shipping Method 2, then the Default delivery Settings will be applicable.

D. Only Shipping Classes

if settings are added for the Shipping Classes and one of the classes is selected at the checkout, then the respective custom settings of the selected Shipping class will be displayed.

If multiple products with different shipping classes are added to the cart, then common settings of the products and shipping classes will be applicable.

If selected product and shipping classes have no custom settings added then in such a case the Default delivery settings will appear.

E. Shipping Methods & Product Categories

If settings of a Shipping Method is added, and that shipping method gets selected by the customer on the cart page, then its respective settings will be applicable. In this case, if another shipping method is selected then the settings of the selected Product Categories will be considered.

Example – Say the product Wall Painting of Art Category is added to the cart and Flat Rate Shipping method is selected by the customer. If settings for Flat Rate Shipping are added in the backend, then custom settings of Flat Rate Shipping will be considered. However, if the settings are not added for Flat Rate Shipping, then delivery settings of the Art category will be applied.

If selected Shipping Methods and Product Categories do not have any custom settings added for it, then the Default delivery settings will be applied.

F. Shipping Classes & Product Categories

Here, you have to add settings for Shipping Method and Product Categories separately from the Custom Settings Tab. Once these settings gets saved, below is the settings page of how it appears in the backend:

Settings page displaying added settings

Unlike the Shipping Methods, if the selected product in the cart has the settings added for its product category and shipping class both, then priority will be given to the Product Category settings. Otherwise, settings of Shipping Class will be considered.

If custom settings for Shipping Class 1 and Product Category A are added in the backend and say the customer adds the product of Category A in the cart and selects the same Shipping Class, then the settings of Product Category A will be considered.

Moreover, if the customer adds the product of Category B whose settings are not added in the backend and selects Shipping Class 1, then the settings added for Shipping Class 1 will be considered.

However, if the Category of the product added to the cart and selected Shipping Class on the Cart page is other than Product Category A and Shipping Class 1 (the ones whose settings are added in the backend), then the Default delivery Settings will be applied.

G. Common Settings

This implies that the custom settings are common in nature when applied for Shipping Methods, Product Categories, Shipping Classes as well as Time Slot settings.

Here for all the above-explained cases, wherever common settings were considered, the following scenarios will be applicable:

1. Common Delivery Days: When there is common setting applicable for delivery days, common days between the two will be considered. For instance, if settings of Category A shows delivery on Saturdays only and Category B shows delivery on Saturdays and Sundays, then here common delivery day will be considered which is a Saturday.
2. Highest Delivery Charges: When there are common delivery days selected for delivery, the delivery charges which are highest will be considered.
3. Minimum Delivery Time in Hours: When there is a common setting applicable for this case, then the one with highest Minimum Delivery Time in Hours will be considered during checkout.
4. Same day delivery cut-off time: When a common delivery day is considered due to common settings, the highest Same day delivery cut-off time will be applicable. For instance, for a common delivery day Monday, the delivery cut-off time is set as 10pm and 12pm. The Same day delivery cut-off time will be considered as 12 PM. 
5. Next day delivery cut-off time: Similarly, when a common delivery day is considered due to common settings, the highest Next day delivery cut-off time will be applicable.
6. Time Slots: If there are no common time slots then No timeslots are available message will be displayed.

To conclude, all of these different combinations of settings will help you achieve the results you want for your business by catering to your online business requirements!