UPS

UPS (United Parcel Service) is a shipping company that you can use to ship orders to your customers. They ship all over the world and provide online shipping rates. That means that you can offer UPS live rates in your Ecwid store so that customers could choose the shipping option they prefer and pay for it as they’re placing the order.

Setting up UPS rates

You can add a UPS shipping method in your store to offer UPS live rates to your customers. At the checkout, customers will see how much different shipping options cost (in case you enable several shipping options) and their transit time. Based on this they can choose the method they prefer. You will see the shipping method and its cost in the order details in your Ecwid control panel or the Ecwid mobile app for iOS or Android.

To set up your Ecwid shop to receive UPS rates, follow the below steps:

Once you complete these steps, customers will start seeing UPS shipping options at the checkout. You can keep using the default settings that you see after UPS method is added. Our UPS account will be used for shipping rates. That’s the default setup. You can also connect your own account and get negotiated rates.

Changing UPS settings

After you set up the UPS shipping method in your store, default settings are applied so that you could offer the rates straight away.

To change the UPS settings in your Ecwid store:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. In the UPS box click on the Actions menu and choose Edit from the dropdown menu.

Here is what you can change in the UPS settings in your store:

• Shipping options
  Disable UPS options that you don’t want to use to ship orders.
  

  To make sure that customers choose only between those UPS methods that you will use to ship orders, enable methods that you use and keep other methods disabled. Thus, the unwanted methods won’t show up at checkout.

• Show approximate delivery date at checkout
  Turn this on to display the approximate delivery date next to delivery options at checkout. A clearly stated delivery date lets customers understand when they can expect to receive their order, resulting in a higher number of successful sales.
  

  In the Order preparation time specify how many days it usually takes for you to prepare an order. That time will be taken into account when calculating the delivery date for customers.

  In the Days when you pack orders specify when you pack orders for shipment.
  Set the final time to pack orders in the I pack orders received past this time on the next day box. Your schedule will be taken into account when calculating the delivery date for customers.
• Shipping region
  Select for what destination zone UPS rates will be offered.
  

  Only customers from the set zone will be able to see UPS at the checkout. Customers from other zones won’t see UPS rates. You can set up other shipping methods for them if you want to.

• Shipping markup
  Add shipping markup. That’s the fixed fee that will be added to the UPS rates. Use it if you want to increase the rates to cover your shipment expenses.
• Default package size (cm)
  Set default package size. This size will be used for the shipping rates calculation unless you specify product dimensions for each product in your catalog. If all your products are approximately of the same size, you can set the default package size in the shipping settings once and use it for all products.
• Minimum order subtotal
  Limit the availability of this shipping method by order subtotal. If the order is below the set amount, this shipping method will be inactive at checkout.
• Internal shipping name
  Enter the name that will be used to refer to this method in the control panel. This name is for internal use only and cannot be seen by customers. The actual names of the shipping methods displayed at checkout are retrieved from the carrier.
• Connect your UPS account.
  It will allow you to get negotiated rates which means lower shipping costs for your customers.

When the method is set up, you can check what rates your customers will see in the storefront. To do that, go through the same steps as your customers will: go to your storefront, add products to bag and proceed to the checkout. Enter a shipping address to see the rates. You can try different addresses to check how the rates will vary depending on the address. If needed, you can go back to the Ecwid control panel and adjust the UPS settings.

Connecting your UPS account

You can connect your own UPS account to the Ecwid store to get live rates associated with your account and use more rates that are available for personal merchant accounts only.

To connect your own UPS account to the Ecwid store:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Click on the UPS method to edit it.
3. Scroll the page to the bottom and click Connect UPS Business account:
   
4. Under Step 1, click Log In to UPS:
   
5. In the opened browser window, enter your UPS login and password to log into your account.
6. To access rates associated with your UPS account, proceed to Step 2 and enter your UPS shipping account number.
   
   To find your UPS account number, log in to the UPS dashboard and click Profile → My Information → Shipping Account.
7. Click Save.

That’s it! Ecwid will now show rates associated with your UPS account at checkout. If you have any negotiated rates in your UPS account, they will be displayed. Otherwise, customers will see default UPS rates available for your account. If you get any negotiated rates in the future, they will automatically appear in your store.

You can go to your storefront, add some products to the bag and check what rates and shipping options you will see at checkout.

Disconnecting your UPS account

If you decide to disconnect your UPS account and use our default account, you can do it anytime. Disconnecting the account will affect all UPS shipping options in your Ecwid store.

To disconnect your UPS account:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Click on the UPS method to edit it.
3. Scroll down to the UPS account settings block and click Disconnect.
4. In the opened popup, confirm that you want to disconnect your account.

That’s it! Your account will be disconnected from all UPS shipping options in your Ecwid store. You’ll go back to using our default account for shipping rates.

FAQ

Can I offer my UPS negotiated rates to customers?

Sure, you can. To do that, follow the instructions on how to connect your UPS account, step 6.

If you have negotiated rates enabled in your store settings, but they still don’t display at the checkout, make sure that your UPS account is eligible for negotiated rates and they're enabled. Also keep in mind that after you enable them in your UPS account, it might take up to three days before they start appearing in your store checkout.

If none of the above helps and you still can’t find out why the negotiated rates don’t appear in your store, contact us. We’ll be glad to help.

Why are the rates in my store different from the UPS rates?

There can be a number of reasons: you added shipping markup in the store settings which increases the shipping cost, you check different addresses in the store and in UPS, etc. You can take some steps to find out why that happens. They are described in this article: Troubleshooting shipping.

If you can’t find the answer on your own, we’ll help. At the end of that article, you’ll find what info you can send us so that we could do further troubleshooting from our side.

What is the best package to ship my orders?

To make sure the package arrives safely, wrap your orders in quality packaging.

We recommend trying Arka, eco-friendly custom packaging service at the best prices. Arka has insert, poly mailers, stickers, and tissue paper, and boxes. Use the ecwid15 promo code to buy discounted packaging from Arka. To apply promo code, go to arka.com/ecwid, choose package, customize it if needed, and proceed to checkout where you can enter the code.
You can also use the Arka app from the Ecwid App Market to customize your packaging.

Related articles:

Choosing the right shipping strategy for your store
Sorting delivery options at checkout
Shipping labels
Tracking numbers