Introduction
Decimal is an API service for shipping rate calculations. This book will introduce you to and provide references for the 'JSON Configuration Editor' (the page in Shopify that got you here) and its options.
If that sounds scary, don't worry - the Editor is designed to help you by providing hints and error checking. If you have a basic grasp of HTML, CSS or any programming language, you should be fine. If not, it shouldn't take long to learn. We also have a sample template on Github that you can copy-paste into your Editor and get a head start.
And remember, you can always contact Decimal support if you want us to set it up for you and not bother with all this coding stuff!
What you can do with Decimal
Note: You must have "Real Time Carrier Rates" enabled in your Shopify admin which, if you are on the smaller Shopify Plans, you can still have enabled either by paying $20 a month additional, or by paying for your existing plan upfront for a year.
FLAT RATE SHIPPING - Charge a Flat Rate for shipping, e.g. "Shipping is always $5". Of course, in addition to Flat rates, you can always have faster and more expensive options as well.
FREE SHIPPING - Have Free Shipping or Free Shipping with a threshold, e.g. "$5 Shipping, but Free Shipping if order value is $100 or more". In addition to Flat rates, you can always have faster and more expensive options as well.
REAL TIME CARRIER RATES
- USPS RATES - Charge for shipping based on your actual cost using USPS rates. Includes Media Mail rates.
- FEDEX and UPS RATES - Charge for shipping based on your actual cost using UPS or FedEx rates. Decimal knows whether a US Address is a Residence, thereby adding the "Residential Delivey Surcharge" to the rate! (NOTE: Dimensional Rates are not included in this version of Decimal. If you ship light items via FedEx or UPS, un-install Decimal and instead use the Boxify app to help you figure out how to pack each order u the available boxes.
- SHIPPING MARGINS - Control your shipping profit margins. For example, make 10% on Ground Shipping but 30% on 3Day Air Shipping. Control using percentages or dollar amounts.
MULTI ORIGIN SHIPPING RATES - If you ship from more than one location or have products dropshipped, Decimal allows you to configure products with different origins so that shipping rates are calculated accurately. Note that all products in the cart need to come from the same origin (NOTE: This version of Decimal assumes that at least one origin has ALL products available in that origin)
PRODUCT SPECIFIC RULES & EXCEPTIONS TO SHIPPING RATES - Create rules and exceptions for shipping rates based on Product Tags, Product Types, Product SKUs, Product Weights, Product Quantities and Product Price, Cart Weight and Cart Price. For example, "Flat Rate $5, Free Shipping if order value is $100 or more, unless you're buying a fridge, in which case shipping is $169"
INTELLIGENT 'PICKUP FROM OUR STORE' OPTION - You can configure Decimal so that a "Pickup from Store" shipping option is shown only when the buyer is within a 'drivable distance' of your store. You can do this by adding a list of Zip Codes that you would consider a 'drivable distance'.
RENAME WHAT THE SHIPPING OPTIONS ACTUALLY SAY - For example, instead of the default option that says, "First Class Mail (3 to 5 Business Days)", you can configure it to say "USPS First Class Mail", or even something completely different, such as "Snail Mail with barely acceptable Tracking that you have no chance to prove that the buyer received it". Developer joke aside, the ability to rename can be quite useful.
LASTLY BUT IMPORTANTLY...FALL BACK RATES - If you are using Real Time Rates, keep in mind that the carriers' servers can sometimes get busy and do not respond to Real Time Rate requests. In such cases, you will lose the sale, because Shopify will display the dreaded message, "Sorry, there are no shipping rates available..."! Decimal allows you to set up Fallback Rates to prevent the loss.