Shipping Estimate based on ZIP code only

Why shipping estimator requires more than just the zip-code to get estimates?

In AC5.x and the initial release of AC7 the shipping estimate used to work based on zip code only. In the final release of AC7 fields like country, province and city were also added.

There are many reasons for making country, province and city fields required for shipping estimator.

• Firstly, the shipping estimate needs to work for countries other than US.
• Secondly, some of the carriers require more address information than just the zip-code. For example FedEx requires zip-code and city.
• Thirdly, and most importantly, the shipping estimator can not work correctly with shipping zones defined in the store if zip-code is the only information available to determine the applicable zone.

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Related post in forums by evanb@firefold.com http://forums.ablecommerce.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=8159