Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

[Keitho]

I'm still using the Emporium Plus MiniBasket and Shipping Estimator in our 5.5 store. We have found that when the cart contents exceed 150 pounds Fedex Ground and UPS Ground services disappear and only the pricey Air Services show up. As a result we've received a few panicked calls from customers.

So, I need to display a message that says something like "Cart Content exceeds 150 pounds - Please contact us for Ground Shipping Options."

My questions are...

1) Is the total weight in the cart available? If yes, how can I access it?
2) Is there a way to increase the 150 pound threshold (I know this may depend upon our shipping accounts)?
3) Do the Miva versions (in 5.5 or 9) of the MiniBasket and Estimator work any differently?

Thanks!

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Re: Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

1. Try g.basket:weight (I found this using our Inspector module).
2. That's a UPS issue I believe, and would probably require either a change to the module or implementing dimensional packaging (if the newer version of the UPS module supports multiple packages.
3. Sorry, don't know that one.

[Rick Wilson]

Re: Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

2. No, 150lbs is the limit for UPS (non freight)
3. No they work the same.

[Brennan]

Re: Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

There are few ways to get the basket weight.

If you are using our built in Mini-basket it is available as a global variable:

&mvt:global_minibasket:basket_weight;

I don't believe there is a variable for it in the default basket page. However you can get it by adding it up yourself. You would need to take the item weight * quantity plus option weight * quantity and sum up all products in the cart . Or you can call this function (assuming 5.22 engine):

<mvt:do file="g.module_library_db" name="g.basket_weight" value="Basket_Weight(g.basket:basket_id)" />
Basket Weight: &mvt:global:basket_weight;

The 150lb is a restriction all the carriers have for ground shipping. However you can setup Miva to automatically split the order into two packages once it reaches the 150lb ground threshold. This is done under Miva's Box settings. Click on Shipping from the left menu then Settings. Under Packaging Rules, choose Pack By Weight.

Then click on Boxes and add a new box. You can leave the sipping dimensions at 0 but put the max weight at 149. This will cause Miva to always create a second box at 149lbs.

A couple things to note with this: If you have a single 200lb item in the cart this will not work. It can't split a single item into multiple boxes.

And these box rules are global across all your shipping methods. So it will apply the same logic to all your shipping methods not just ground.

[nottheusual1]

Re: Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

Viking/Emedia's FEDEX Advanced module lets you specify product counts per carton and splits the product into the necessary number of boxes.

By part number. We've been using it for years and have about 1800 products managed with it.

It also has the ability to limit shipping methods by PN and includes FEDEX Freight options and a bunch of other things.

The support has gotten much better, too.

[Keitho]

Re: Displaying Special Message Based on Total Basket Weight

Thanks all for the help.