Enhancements for the manual shipping plugin (shipping by weight)

-- HikaShop version -- : 3.2.2
-- Joomla version -- : 3.8.3
-- PHP version -- : 7.2.0
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Firefox 58.0.2

Hi!

I found on the forum several topics in which questions were asked about the calculation of the cost of shipping, depending on the weight of the products. As a rule, as a solution, it is suggested to use Restrictions in the manual shipping plug-in. But what if use of this recommendation is too difficult and Restrictions only are not enough? I have an idea on how to improve this plug-in and give all users of the component more options for flexible customization of the cost of shipping.

First I will describe the real situation:

There is a delivery service, it has an API, but plugins for HikaShop that use its official API do not exist. In addition, API capabilities are only available to large firms and are redundant. Using HikaShop with this delivery service, you must use the manual shipping plug-in.

The price conditions of the present delivery service are as follows (such are the conditions for many other delivery services, so this situation is extremely urgent):

1. There are 5 delivery zones. Let they will be called: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
2. For each delivery zone for parcels of up to 500 grams, base rate is set at $ 5, $ 7, $ 10, $ 15, $ 20, respectively.
3. For each delivery zone, for each subsequent full or incomplete 500 grams, an additional fixed fee is charged: $ 1, $ 1,5, $ 1,7, $ 2, $ 3, respectively.
4. The maximum weight of parcel should not exceed 10 kilograms.

When setting up this delivery method, we need to provide free shipping for parcels up to 1.5 kilograms for 1 delivery zone and for parcels weighing up to 500 grams for 2 and 3 delivery zones.

If you use the Restrictions in the manual shipping plug-in, you will need to create more than 120(!) delivery methods, prescribing various restrictions in them. Of course, you can reduce the number of delivery methods, for example, using smaller weight ranges - 1 kilogram instead of 500 grams or/and simply increasing shipping costs. But then the total price of the products with such delivery rates begins to lose competitiveness.

And, finally, the idea of ​​how you can reduce the complexity of implementing this approach at times:

Just want to say that the Restrictions are needed, but you also need additional options for customizing the shipping cost in the General configuration section of the manual shipping plug-in: "For every subsequent X gram (kilogram, etc.)" and "To charge an additional X fee". I think it makes no sense to describe the logic of these fields, it is clear from the previous description. The presence of these additional settings reduces the number of created delivery methods at times!

These additional options will make the plug-in at times more flexible and it can be used for more delivery services around the world. I sincerely hope for your attention to this issue, because in the end, such improvements will facilitate the life of a huge number of your users!

Oh, I see a slight omission in my logic - you will need the third field "Maximum weight for the base price", in which you must specify the maximum weight for which the basic shipping price is applicable. In the case described by me this is 500 grams. Thus, for a weight of 501 grams or more, with the increment indicated in the "For every subsequent X gram (kilogram, etc.)" field will be added additional cost indicated in the "To charge an additional X fee" field.

For example, for the first zone with a weight of 1 to 500 grams, the cost of shipping will be $ 5, with a weight of 501 grams to 1000 grams, the shipping cost will be $ 5 + $ 1 = $ 6, with a weight of 1001 grams to 1500 grams: $ 5 + $ 1 + $ 1 = $ 7, and so on.

Hello,

That's a good idea, we'll add it on our TODO list, but if you need the help of a professional developer to quickly develop it, you can check our partners section : www.hikashop.com/home/our-partners.html

Thank you for your feedback !

You are the best!

Hi,

Is there any chance to see this enchancement in a next few releases?

Hello,

We still didn't have time to start that project from our TODO list as we have a lot of other project to develop for the moment.

Best regards,
Mohamed Thelji.