# Online shipping methods overview

Shipping applications provide customers with online rates after they fill in their address details.

While the shipping methods page loads for the customer, the following flow happens in the background:

<figure><img src="/files/o2eb2FAwvuuAfp6wqsvf" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

First, Ecwid gets order details and sends them a POST request to the app's `shippingUrl` with the data formatted as an unencrypted JSON.

{% hint style="info" %}
Ecwid won't call `shippingUrl` if it has already been called in less than 5 minutes or the order details haven't changed.&#x20;
{% endhint %}

After that, the app must parse the data and return shipping rates within the 10-second window. Upon receiving the response, Ecwid loads the next checkout page and displays shipping options to the customer.


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