Installing the ShipperHQ Plus App

Getting Started

It is recommended to run through the below process on a Staging site first to ensure the migration is smooth and without issues before proceeding to Production.

Install The App

We’ve made a new ShipperHQ Plus app to provide these new capabilities as early-access features.  The app is not listed in the marketplace, there is a link below to install from.

1. Contact ShipperHQ to access the ShipperHQ Plus App for BigCommerce.
2. The existing SHQ app will continue to work and return rates, there are now two apps listed in the BigCommerce Dashboard “ShipperHQ” and “ShipperHQ Plus”
3. Open the “ShipperHQ Plus” app it will be connected to the same ShipperHQ account and will have all the same configuration as the existing app

Migrate Product Metadata

Limitations in BigCommerce’s Shipping Provider API mean the ShipperHQ Plus app will not use the existing ‘Advanced Shipping Fields’ assigned on your product, instead it will use new product metafields.  Space48 makes a fantastic Metafield Manager app we recommend for now to help manage the metafields.  We have provided a migration tool that will copy the data from the existing Advanced Shipping fields into their respective metafields.

1. [Optional] Install a free trial of Space48’s Metafields Manager – or another app if you like – this will let you spot-check your metafields
2. [Optional] You may want to use Metafields Manager’s export feature to take a backup of your product metafields
3. Open the ShipperHQ Plus app
4. From the Account menu click on Migrate Product Metadata
5. This may take some time to complete, when it finishes spot check a few products.
   1. The ‘Shipping Groups’ advanced shipping field should have been copied to the shipping_carrier_294 – shipperhq_shipping_group metafield
   2. The ‘Origin Locations’ advanced shipping field should have been copied to the shipping_carrier_294 – shipperhq_warehouse metafield
   3. The ‘Dimensional Rules’ advanced shipping field should have been copied to the shipping_carrier_294 – shipperhq_dim_group metafield

Switch On ShipperHQ Plus Rating

Once the app is installed, product metadata is migrated, and we’re happy with the configuration we can switch BC over from the existing ShipperHQ solution to ShipperHQ Plus

1. Go to your BigCommerce store’s Settings -> Shipping
2. Under Default Shipping Rules configure any zones, we recommend at least US and Rest Of World zones, and ensure ShipperHQ Plus is an enabled carrier for each zone.
3. While setting up the ShipperHQ Plus carrier you may wish to use the Quote tab to test connectivity and ensure shipping rates return
4. When your shipping zones are configured it’s time to switch over to the new service
5. From the shipping settings page toggle from Advanced shipping rules to Default shipping rule
6. Though we don’t anticipate problems, if you feel like there are any issues with the new app you can switch this toggle back to Advanced to revert to using the previous version of the app

At this point, the ShipperHQ Plus app is installed and activated. You should see no difference in your shipping rates or how they are presented to customers. 

You should now use the ShipperHQ Plus app to access your SHQ dashboard.  Leave the previous ShipperHQ app installed for now.  When we close early access on these features and go to general availability we will reincorporate the Plus app back into the standard app – which should require little-to-no intervention on your part.

Troubleshooting

No Rates are Returning at Checkout

Solution: Ensure that the Checkout Shipping options in BigCommerce are set to Default, and ShipperHQ Plus is added to all of your Shipping Zones. Also ensure your configuration in the ShipperHQ Plus app is set up properly, and any necessary metadata has been migrated.

I don’t see ShipperHQ Plus as an option to add to my shipping zones under real-time shipping quotes.

Solution: Uninstall and reinstall the ShipperHQ Plus App.

I’m only seeing the normal presentation of shipping methods, not the new Enhanced Checkout experience

Solution: Go to the Websites tab in the SHQ+ App and edit your website. Under the integrations Tab, delete the existing EC token and generate a new one.