Zones

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Manage Zones

An AbleCommerce Zone is a defined geographical area using countries, provinces, or postal codes.  The zones can then be selected when you create shipping methods,  setup shipping services such as UPS, USPS, etc., or define your tax rules.  When you assign a shipping method or tax to a zone, the calculation will only appear for customers who are using an address within that zone.

1. From the menu, go to Configure > Regions > Zones to view a page similar to the one below.
   

In a sample data store, there are two pre-defined zones.  One for Alaska and Hawaii and the second for the Contiguous US.  A common scenario used by merchants is to offer USPS to the 'Alaska and Hawaii' zone, and offer UPS to the 'Contiguous US' zone.

By using zones, you will be able to customize the way shipping services are offered to customers in different locations.  You will also be able to define the specific tax regions that you will use when setting up your tax rules.

The indicators under the Tax Rules column will show you how many tax rules are currently in use by the Zone. You can click on the number indicator to assign tax rules to the selected zone.

The indicators under Shipping Method will show you how many shipping methods are currently in use by the Zone. You can click on the number indicator to assign shipping methods to the selected zone.

Removing Zones

The menu displays the zone name, countries, provinces, or postal codes. In the Action column, there are different buttons to perform these tasks:

• Use the EDIT button to modify an existing zone.

• Use the COPY button to duplicate an existing zone.

• Use the DELETE button to remove a zone.

Add or Edit a Zone

1. From the upper-right corner, click the Add Zone button to view a popup.
   
   

2. Enter a Zone Name and then click the Save button to finish, or use the Save and Edit button to continue defining the zone.

3. This will take you to the Edit Zone page.
   
   

4. If needed, change the Zone Name for the zone.  This is for merchant reference only.  This value is not displayed to customers.

5. Choose an option for Countries to begin.
   
   Choose the 'Include All Countries', 'Include Selected Countries', or 'Exclude Selected Countries' option.  After making your selection the screen will refresh with your next step.  For our example, we will select the 'Include Selected Countries' option.

6. The page will refresh showing the Selected Countries link. Put your cursor in the field and start typing to display a list of countries. Select one or more countries.

7. From the next section, choose an option for Selected States if you want to further refine the zone.
   
   Choose the 'Include All States', 'Include Selected States', or 'Exclude Selected States' option.  After making your selection the screen will refresh with your next step.  For our example, we will select the 'Include Selected States' option.

8. Similar to how you can add and remove countries, put your cursor in the field and start typing to display a list of states/provinces. Select one or more states/provinces.

9. Click the SAVE or SAVE and CLOSE button from the footer.

Using Postal Codes to Define a Zone

You can also define a zone to a single postal code or range of postal codes.  These would be zip or postal codes that fall into a shipping or tax zone.  

1. From the menu, go to Configure > Regions > Zones and click the EDIT button for the zone you want to change.

2. Decide whether you will be excluding or including postal codes for the zone. There are fields for each one, so be sure to use the appropriate field.
   You may include and exclude simultaneously, but be certain you do not have overlapping data.
   
   

3. Enter multiple codes separated by a comma.  You may also use regular expressions to match multiple postal codes
   
   For instructions on using regular expressions, please click here.
    

2. Click the SAVE or SAVE and CLOSE button from the footer.

Add as many zones as needed.  After your zones are created, you can assign your shipping methods to one or more zones.  By doing this, you can determine which shipping services will shown to the user during checkout or on the shipping estimate page. You can also assign tax rules to zones to calculate accurate taxes for orders.