Managing estimated shipping costs in Flxpoint is essential for optimizing order profitability, selecting cost-effective fulfillment sources, and maintaining competitive pricing. This guide outlines how to configure estimated shipping costs at the item, order, and fulfillment request levels, along with key functionalities, limitations, and available workarounds to ensure accurate shipping cost management.
Why is Estimated Shipping Cost Important?
Estimated shipping costs play a crucial role in order management, pricing strategies, and profitability. Understanding and configuring shipping costs properly allows for:
Optimized profitability – Avoiding unexpected shipping fees that can turn a profitable order into a loss.
Source selection efficiency – Choosing the most cost-effective vendor or fulfillment option.
Marketplace competitiveness – Adjusting pricing strategies based on estimated shipping costs to remain competitive.
Where You Can Set Shipping Cost Estimates.
Estimated shipping costs can be configured at different levels within Flxpoint:
Item-Level Shipping Cost: Configured through GIP/GIS mapping templates or post-mapping workflow rules. Populated in the Shipping Cost field on a Variant SKU. May be provided directly by the supplier.
Order-Level Shipping Cost: Typically imported from the sales channel. Displayed in the Channel Invoice section on an order.
Fulfillment Request (FR) Level Shipping Cost: Populated in the Estimated Shipping Cost field on a Fulfillment Request (FR). Used for order routing to select the lowest-cost fulfillment option.
Configuring Estimated Shipping Costs
3.1 Item-Level
You can use GIP/GIS mapping templates to pull shipping cost data from your supplier and map it to each SKU. After the data is mapped, workflow rules (such as global, channel, or source pricing) can automatically adjust or integrate these shipping costs into your final product pricing.
3.2 Order-Level
When an order is pulled from a sales channel, Flxpoint usually captures the shipping fee charged to the customer. This fee is shown in the Channel Invoice section. You can oversee these amounts through channel invoicing workflows to ensure they match your expectations.
3.3 Fulfillment Request (FR)-Level
If you have multiple suppliers or warehouses, setting an “Estimated Shipping Cost” on each FR allows Fixpoint's routing logic to compare options. This makes it easier to find the cheapest fulfillment method for each order.
What You Can Do with Estimated Shipping Costs
Item-Level: Integrate shipping costs into the list price.
Order-Level: Adjust shipping costs on incoming orders.
FR-Level: Enable lowest-cost order routing to select the most cost-effective fulfillment source.
Source Invoices: Include shipping costs in auto-generated invoices.
Limitations of Estimated Shipping Costs
Flxpoint does not support:
Sending shipping costs to sales channels – Most marketplaces do not have a dedicated field for this.
Modifying shipping costs at checkout – Shipping fees are set before the order is imported into Flxpoint.
Fetching exact supplier shipping rates – Supplier-specific carrier discounts and location-based variations are not automatically accounted for.
Exceptions and Workarounds
Estimated shipping cost at checkout: Can be implemented using the Flxpoint API checkout endpoint.
Reseller Channel Configuration: Flxpoint controls the checkout process for B2B reseller channels.
Item-Level Shipping Costs via API: Available through the listing endpoint, but some sales channels may not support this field.
Dynamic Source Shipping Costs: Implemented through rate shopping, but this provides an estimate rather than exact supplier rates.
Key Takeaways
Flxpoint Can:
✅ Estimate shipping costs using configured rules.
✅ Build shipping costs into list pricing.
✅ Use estimated shipping costs in order routing.
Flxpoint Cannot:
❌ Calculate exact supplier shipping rates.
❌ Adjust shipping costs during checkout on a sales channel.
❌ Send item-level shipping costs directly to a sales channel.