Template Tags: Shipping

Shipping behavior in CartThrob is driven by the active shipping plugin, cart contents, and customer shipping data (for example country/state/zip and selected shipping option).

Use this page as the shipping-focused tag index for:

1. shipping option selection
2. shipping totals/conditionals
3. shipping address capture in cart/checkout flows
4. live-rate quote workflows

See also: Creating Shipping Plugins.

Standard Shipping Tags

Use these tags to expose shipping choices to the customer and output the currently selected option.

• get_shipping_options Output shipping options from the active shipping plugin. With no tag pair content, this outputs a <select name="shipping_option">; with tag pair content, it outputs option variables per row (also used on Checkout page).
• selected_shipping_option Output the current shipping option value from cart shipping info; falls back to the plugin default if none is saved yet (also used on Checkout page).
• save_shipping_option Save a chosen shipping_option value to cart shipping info and optionally redirect (legacy helper).

Shipping Info Tags

Use these tags to show shipping totals and shipping-related cart state.

• cart_shipping Output shipping total from the active cart (also used on Cart page and Checkout page).
• cart_shipping_plus_tax Output shipping total including shipping tax (also used on Cart page).
• cart_subtotal_plus_shipping Output subtotal plus shipping (also used on Cart page and Checkout page).
• has_shipping Output TRUE when shipping is non-zero and FALSE when shipping is zero (also used on Cart page).
• has_shippable_items Output whether the cart includes at least one shippable item (also used on Cart page).
• cart_info Output customer info plus cart totals/counts, including shipping-related values (also used on Cart page).

Shipping Form Flow Tags

These tags are commonly used together on shipping pages to capture address data and persist shipping selections before checkout.

• update_cart_form Save shipping/customer fields and shipping option changes in one submit (also used on Cart page and Checkout page).
• save_customer_info_form Save customer/shipping fields without changing cart line items (also used on Cart page and Checkout page).
• save_customer_info Legacy immediate helper to validate/save customer+shipping fields from request data, then optionally redirect (also used in Checkout page).
• customer_info Output saved customer/shipping values for form prefill (also used on Cart page and Checkout page).
• state_select Output a state/province <select> for shipping/billing address capture (also used on Checkout page).
• country_select Output a country <select> for shipping/billing address capture (also used on Checkout page).

Installer shipping templates also commonly show supporting cart summary tags such as cart_items_info, cart_subtotal, cart_tax, cart_total, and total_items_count while the customer updates shipping data.

Live Rates Tags

• get_live_rates_form Output a dedicated quote form that submits to the live-rates update action and includes plugin HTML fields.
• update_live_rates_action Action endpoint used by live-rates forms to validate inputs, request rates, and optionally save the cheapest returned option.
• get_shipping_options Can output live-rate options when the active plugin supports live quotes (also used on Checkout page).

Live-rate behavior depends on the installed shipping plugin. If the selected plugin supports live rates, quote accuracy depends on complete shipping data.

Typical live-rate inputs include:

1. Shipping from location (this is handled in the settings for the shipping plugin by default)
2. Shipping to location (customer shipping address, or billing address when shipping address is not available)
3. Package weight
4. Package size (length x width x height)
5. Shipping to location type (residential or commercial)
6. Shipping from location type (residential or commercial)
7. Package type (defined by the carrier)
8. Shipping method (for example Ground, Overnight, Priority)
9. Shipping time (the time of day packages are shipped)
10. Pickup type (regular pickup, counter drop-off, one-time pickup)

If live-rate requirements are too complex for a store’s workflow, fixed/configured shipping approaches are often easier to maintain (for example):

• Zone Rates
• Threshold Rates
• Per Location Rates

These can approximate carrier-style pricing while giving the merchant direct control over handling and operational adjustments.