One of our clients is wrestling with "warm weather shipping" in which during May - Oct they need to protect their perishable meats and cheeses that they ship. We realize they can easily pass on the cost of the box itself, but depending on the amount of product in the box, it's weight (with freezer packs included) can be anywhere from 4.5 to 14.5 pounds.

So the questions I need answered are:

• How can we add the weight of the box and freezer packs to the order so it's weight is included in shipping calculations?
• And if the order requires a 2nd box to fit the merchandise, is there a way to charge for the 2nd box and it's eventual weight?

Any work around or developer mods for this situation?

Tim Gorski

Is this all of their products that are subject to this?
If not all, is it just a few maybe?

I have a few ideas.

David

While the IDEAL is to also make a distinction between perishable and non-perishable products, they're willing to treat all products the same.

Some of the surrounding issues include:
- they ship to local, regional and non-regional zones
- each zone will have 2 seasonal price lists, regular and hot (hot weather shipping of perishables is the major challenge here)
- They don't want to over-charge local and regional customers any more than they have to, and they need to shift the cost of non-regional hot weather shipping to the customers that are willing to pay a premium for shipping and maintaining product quality

To answer your "all or just a few" question, it's that perishable/non-perishable distinction (which is also related to taxable/non-taxable as well)

I'm anxious to hear what you have to say, Dave ... I've got more than a few meat and cheese merchants with the same issue.

Tim Gorski

My idea is to manipulate the handling charge in the checkout process based on what products are in the cart.
A product will need to have an indicator of perishable (when it applies).
This could involve adding a column to the products table and use the quick entry to mark products.
Another way might be to use a custom field to add the word perishable, assuming one of the custom fields is not being used.
During checkout we check for that perishable indicator and change the handling charge during the checkout process.
Maybe use a content region to set that handling charge so it can be adjusted on the fly when the seasons heat up.

Personally I think I can do this for .asp easier than .php, but I have been working on my .php skills, so it may be something I could help with.

I've been looking for a custom modification EXACTLY like what you are describing, and 2 clients who I know would be VERY interested immediately with a number of others a good maybe.

- I guess I'd be interested in quoting 2 ways: 1 with using the ECT extra field and 1 where you'd have to add the field because the ECT fields are unavailable
- I don't see anyway to address the variable weight of the shipping box with freezer pack, but is there a way to have a "per box" handling charge, so if the order requires more than 1 box, the handling charge for the 2nd box is automatically added?
- and lastly, could this arrangement be used REGARDLESS of shipping type? FedEx, UPS, USPS, weight-based, dollar-based?

As far as dealing with remaining questions, clarifications and pricing, should we initiate more private communications?


Tim Gorski

I'll put some more thought into this after hours this evening and send you a message.

David

Just an update. I have been working on this between projects, so I didn't forget you. I need to be sure we can manipulate the handling charge first.