Purpose: learn how you can offer flexible shipping options and customise your shipping rates in Shopify through your Sendcloud integration.
Step 1: Enable your shipping methods in Sendcloud
The first step to offering multiple shipping methods at your Shopify checkout is to select your preferred carriers in your Sendcloud account.
- In your Sendcloud account, go to Shipping > Carriers. Here your can activate your preferred carrier by finding them in the list and clicking the Enable button.
- You can enable a default shipping method by going to Shipping > Shipping defaults. This is the shipping method that will be pre-selected for all of your incoming orders unless you manually change them.
- If you need help deciding on which carriers and shipping methods you want to offer to your customers, you can use our Price list.
Step 2: Set up your shipping rates on Shopify
Sendcloud does not import shipping rates into Shopify. This is to grant you the flexibility of deciding how much you want to charge your customers for different delivery options independently. Or if you wish to offer free shipping when certain conditions are met, for example, if an order value is above 50€.
In Shopify you can create flat shipping rates which charge a specific amount for an order at checkout. It allows flexibility in terms of charging a certain rate for specific shipping zones or based on weight or order value. To create a shipping rate in Shopify, follow the steps below:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
- Click on Manage rates next to the shipping profile you want to add a rate for.
- You can add flat shipping rates per shipping zone. A shipping zone is a group of countries that will have the same shipping fee. For example, you can set a flat fee for all of Europe, or charge a different rate for shipments to Germany. Click Create shipping zone and enter a name. Select the countries and region that will apply to this zone. You will also find shipping zones that have been pre-created by Shopify, including your domestic country.
- Once you've created your shipping zones, click Add rate.
- Give the rate a name (such as "Next day delivery") that relates to the delivery service you want to offer. For increased conversion and more flexibility for your customers, we recommend adding a selection of delivery options, such as standard delivery, next day and service point delivery.
- Add the rate you want to charge for this service and for this specific delivery zone. You can add additional conditions to base the offered rate on weight or total order value by clicking Add
conditions. Press Done and then Save to save your changes. - Your shipping rates will appear at checkout to your customers based on their destination country and the shipping zones you have configured.
- When an incoming order from your Shopify webshop is retrieved in Sendcloud, it will appear in your incoming order overview. All incoming orders will be automatically assigned to your default shipping method that you enabled in your Sendcloud settings.
- Click on the pen icon to enter the order view.
- Under the shipping method dropdown menu, you can see the name of the shipping method the customer chose at checkout.
- For example, if the customer chose shipping option "Next day delivery" you can select an appropriate shipping method from the dropdown menu. Press Save before printing your shipping labels.
Step 3: How to use shipping rules to automatically detect Shopify shipping methods
If you are on our Lite subscription plan or above, you can use our Shipping rules feature to streamline your checkout process. With shipping rules, Sendcloud will automatically match a shipping method to the name of the shipping method selected at checkout.
This means that if a customer selects "Next day delivery" at checkout, the order will automatically be assigned to the desired shipping method when it appears in your incoming order overview without you having to change it manually.
- Go to Shipping > Shipping rules.
- Click Create new.
- Give your shipping rule a name, such as "Next day delivery".
- Set the "If" condition to "Checkout delivery method"
- Select operator condition to "Is"...
- In the empty field, enter the name of the checkout method you want to match exactly as it appears in Shopify.
- Under Actions, select the action "Ship with" ...
- Under Values, select your desired shipping method from the dropdown menu.
Repeat this process for all the shipping methods you offer at checkout. Note that Lite subscription users are limited to a maximum of five shipping rules.
Done! Your Shopify checkout to label creation process is now fully automated. For more information on how shipping rules can automate your entire logistics process, check our article.
For more information on creating shipping zones and rates in Shopify, consult the Shopify Help Center.