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Manage Products and Pricing

The Backlight Cart includes separate settings for products and pricing. The attributes and options are set to describe products. Pricing schemes are then configured to select the available products and set prices for the attributes and options of products within a scheme.

Managing Products​

Product management consists of setting up the attributes and options for products. Attributes are items such as size, finish or framing. Options are items such as small, medium and large, matte and gloss. Products may be entirely different in nature, e.g. prints and coffee mugs, or be similar but differentiated by the attributes and options, e.g. prints (size, finish) and banners (size, material).

To start configuring your products, click on Products. You may choose to edit the pre-configured products, or add your own. The Digital Download product can not be deleted. You can, however, add attributes or change the name. The availability of Digital Downloads depends on your pricing scheme setup.

Base pricing determines how the initial amount of a product is setup. A single base price means that a product's starting price is fixed. An example would be a CD with a single base price of $10. Products with multiple base prices present the user with a dropdown, for example a 4x6" print for $5 or an 8x10" print for $8.

If set to use multiple base prices, the first attribute of a product is the //base// attribute. Subsequent attributes are set as either fixed or percentage-based. The prices set for fixed attributes are added directly onto the base price. The prices set for percentage attributes are added on as a percentage of the base price.

For details on configuring digital products, see Digital Purchases.

Managing Pricing Schemes​

Pricing schemes consist of one or more products, and associated pricing. The products assigned to a pricing scheme are presented to the customer in the first drop-down box in the purchase window. After selecting a product, the following attributes are then adjusted to reflect the chosen product.

To configure pricing schemes, click on the Pricing Schemes menu item under Pricing. You will then be presented with a list of pre-configured pricing schemes.

To setup pricing schemes, either add or edit an existing pricing scheme. Give the scheme a name and select the products. The name given to a pricing scheme (e.g. 'default') is used for matching pricing profiles for galleries or individual images, for example in the 'Cart pricing profile' field album setup in Publisher. After adding or editing a pricing scheme, click on the corresponding Manage Pricing Scheme link and set pricing. Items that have yet to have pricing set will be marked as incomplete and not available to customers.

Shipping​

The Backlight Cart supports multiple shipping methods. To configure shipping, click on Shipping menu item under Pricing. The cart ships with pre-configured shipping options. You may choose to edit these, or create your own. Shipping methods are managed in two ways: The options that are not specific to any products are set when you add or edit shipping methods. Charges specific to products and their options are set by visiting the Manage Charges link for each shipping method.

Adding or Editing Shipping Methods​

The following fields are set when adding or editing a shipping method:

  • Name - a unique name. This is shown to customers in the dropdown when visiting their cart.
  • Enabled - whether a shipping method is available to the customer or not. For example, if you choose not to provide Self Collection, then set this to no.
  • Default Method - this sets the selected shipping method when a customer first visits the cart page.
  • Flat Shipping Rate - a charge that is added on to each order using this shipping method. This charge is additional to any other charges set in the product-specific shipping management. Leave blank or set to zero if this does not apply.
  • Enable Free Shipping Threshold - whether or not to offer free shipping when the total order amount before tax reaches a set amount.
  • Free Shipping Threshold - the threshold amount that applies when Enable Free Shipping Threshold is set to yes, above.

Managing Charges​

To manage product-specific charges for a shipping method, click the Manage Charges link for the shipping method.

A set of fields is available for each product. These are:

  • Per-item Shipping - an amount added for each item of the related product in the cart.
  • Minimum Shipping for this Product - a minimum amount that will be charged as a total for all items of this product in a cart.
  • Maximum Shipping for this Product - a maximum amount that will be charged as a total for all items of this product in a cart.

As an example, let's say we for the Print product that we have a per-item shipping amount of $5, a minimum shipping amount of $12 and a maximum of $25. If the customer has one or two items of this product in the cart, then the shipping will be $12 (since twice $5 comes to $10, which is less than the minimum shipping amount of $12). For three items, the shipping charge for this product will be $15, for four and five the shipping will be $20 and $25, and for six or more items of this product, the charges will be $30.

Leave any field that is not required blank. For example, by leaving the maximum shipping blank in the example above, the shipping for eight items will come to $40, and keep increasing as more items are added.

Optionally, you may add shipping charges that pertain to specific product options. For example, you may choose to add a $5 charge for prints configured with a wooden frame. Set these by clicking on the Show Additional Charges for Product link on the Manage Products page.

The Relationship between Products, Pricing Schemes and Shipping​

Products, pricing schemes and shipping methods are inter-linked. When products or their attributes and options are changed, the related pricing schemes and shipping methods are marked as incomplete. Visit the shipping and pricing schemes settings and manage each 'incomplete' item. This is intended for you to review pricing for updated options, and you will not need to change the settings in order for the shipping or pricing schemes to be marked as complete. You can quickly find any incomplete pricing schemes or shipping methods by visiting the admin Dashboard.