Shipping and Delivery Rates for Ecommerce Stores

What Are Shipping Zones?

Shipping zones allow you to define specific geographic regions where you apply different delivery charges. This enables you to set varying rates for different states, provinces, or areas, ensuring your shipping costs align with actual expenses and providing customers with clear pricing during checkout.

Setting Up Shipping Zones

Shipping zones group countries, states, or provinces that share the same shipping rules. After creating a zone, you can assign flat or conditional rates to it.

Steps to Create a Shipping Zone

1. Navigate to Sub-Account → Payments → Settings → Shipping & Delivery.
2. Click Add Zone.
3. Enter a descriptive name for the zone (e.g., "US West Coast" or "European Union").
4. Select one or more countries and the relevant states or provinces for the zone.
5. Click Add Rate to define shipping costs for this region.
6. Optionally, add conditional pricing based on order weight or total value.

Buyer’s Preview on the Checkout Page

Once your shipping zones and rates are configured, customers will automatically see available shipping options at checkout based on their address and cart contents.

Shipping Option Order and Default Selection

The checkout process automatically sorts shipping options from lowest to highest cost and selects the least expensive option by default.

• Free shipping options appear first and are selected by default if available.
• If the customer updates their address or cart, shipping options are re-sorted and the default selection is reapplied.
• If only one shipping option is available, it is automatically selected.
• If multiple options have the same price, the first option in that price group is selected.

Limit Shipping Zones by ZIP/Postcode

You can restrict a shipping zone to apply only to specific ZIP or postcodes, which is useful for hyper-local delivery or excluding certain areas.

Enable ZIP/Postcode Restriction

1. Go to Payments → Settings → Shipping & Delivery.
2. Open your Shipping Profile (General or Custom), then go to Shipping Zones.
3. Create a new zone or edit an existing one.
4. Enable Limit Shipping to Specific ZIP/Postcodes.
5. Enter ZIP or postcodes, separating multiple values with commas.

Accepted Input Formats

• Single code (e.g., "90210")
• Comma-separated codes (e.g., "90210,10001")
• Wildcard prefix (e.g., "90*" to match all codes starting with "90")

Validation Rules

• The wildcard asterisk (*) is only allowed at the end of an entry.
• Duplicate or invalid entries are blocked.
• At least one valid ZIP/postcode must be entered to save the zone.
• If a customer’s ZIP/postcode doesn’t match any configured entries, the zone will not apply.

Setting Up Conditional Pricing for Shipping Rates

Conditional pricing lets you adjust shipping costs dynamically based on the total order value or the combined weight of items in the cart. This helps you offer fair rates and incentives for larger or heavier orders.

You can configure rates in two ways:

• By Order Price: Set shipping costs based on the total amount spent.
• By Item Weight: Set shipping costs based on the total weight of the order.

For example, you might offer free shipping for orders over $500 or weighing more than 10 kg, and charge a standard rate for smaller orders.

How to Add Conditional Pricing

1. Navigate to Sub-Account → Payments → Settings → Shipping & Delivery.
2. Under your shipping zone, click Add Rate and enable Conditional Pricing.
3. Choose whether to condition the rate By Order Price or By Item Weight.
4. Define the Minimum and optional Maximum values for the range (e.g., 0–10 kg or $0–$500).
5. Enter the shipping cost that applies to that condition (e.g., $10 for standard delivery).
6. Click Add to save the rate.

These rates will automatically apply at checkout based on the customer’s cart details and location.

Notes and Best Practices

• Create distinct zones for different regions with unique rates.
• A state or province can only belong to one shipping zone.
• You can define multiple weight or price ranges within a single zone.
• Always test the checkout process after adding new zones or conditions to ensure rates display correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can I set both weight-based and price-based conditions in the same zone?

Yes. You can create multiple rates within a zone, each with different conditions—such as one by price and another by weight—to accommodate various store needs.

Q2: What happens if a customer’s address doesn’t fall into any defined shipping zone?

If an address isn’t covered by any custom zone, no shipping rate will be displayed. To avoid this, create a default fallback zone that includes all remaining countries or states.

Q3: Can I offer free shipping for select products only?

Free shipping is applied at the zone or condition level, not per product. To offer free shipping for specific products, group them into a dedicated zone and assign a free rate.