Shopify shipping strategies to consider now & later

Shopify shipping strategies to consider now & later

Shopify offers inbuilt options for flat rates or calculating shipping by integration.
To save on initial costs, we recommend that you start simple, become familiar with inbuilt options, then expand operations as your site grows.
AlertJan 2026 Update: Sendle has since ceased operations. New services are expected to rollout. Ensure you're on top of Shopify's inbuilt offerings. 
For more info: Shopify Help Center | Shipping with Sendle

Shipping Tips:

  1. Keep it simple. Use flat rates to increase average order value & avoid cart abandonment. Shipping costs to customers will vary but ultimately balance out. 
  2. Load products that are easy-to-ship. When both pickup & shipping services are enabled, products are expected to be available for all pickup & delivery methods. Bulky or items that cost more to ship require further management.
  3. Offer free shipping. This should be a standard offering for most retail businesses. If it isn't, entice customers with a limited time offer. 
  4. Provide Tracking numbers. Keep customers informed of delivery progress and help reduce incidents of missing orders.
  5. Integrations. Connect with third-party services to enhance label management or order fulfilment. 
  6. Australia Post. Connect with MyPost Business account to manage ecommerce orders and save as you sell more. When integrated with carrier-calculated rates, you can print labels directly in Shopify - Australia Post orders. Shopify - Australia Post
  7. Carrier-calculated rates can be setup through shipping integrations using product weights. Due to initial running costs (Data entry time, higher Shopify plan & integration) this is best considered for the next phase of your site. Shopify Help Center | Activating third-party carrier-calculated shipping
  8. Target locals with local delivery. Up to 5 zones can be created based on either postcodes or radii.
  9. Products can have different rates. However, more consideration is required for product, shipping profile or app management. Shopify Help Center | Shipping profiles
  10. If you have heavy or bulky items that you think maybe too heavy to ship, we have some workarounds that we can help you with. However, these complex or varied setups are often best tackled with apps. 
  11. Avoid disappointment. Communicate shipping rates clearly. If you have varied rates, add a notice to product details (Product title is clearest during checkout). Update Default Theme Content labels for checkout wording. Theme customisations & Shopify Flow can help with product messaging. 
  12. Keep your shipping policy up-to-date, again communication is key!

Example Shipping Strategies:

📦Online Shopper - Flat Rates & Free Shipping 

Standard Rate
Express Rate
Free Shipping for orders over ___

🤝Community Shopper - Flat Rates & Local Delivery

Standard Rate
Local Area 1 (e.g. Customers within 5km - FREE)
Local Area 2 
etc.

🎯Specialty Retail Shopper - Calculated Rates

Load products with exact weights.
Save time on order management with Calculated Shipping & app integrations

🔠Charge different rates with Shipping Profiles

Manage a handful of select products to custom shipping profiles. 
e.g. Bulky items
General - Flat Rate $
General - Express Rate $$
Bulky Items - Flat Rate $$

🧩Shipping Workarounds

Instead of managing shipping profiles or using apps to set custom shipping rates, you can leverage inbuilt options.
Consider loading weights for those products in the minority to save time. 

Example - Majority of products are bulky. Post-friendly products are in the minority
General Shipping Profile: Standard Rate No rates - Prevents Flat rate Shipping
Custom Shipping Profile: Nominate products & Add rates 

Example - Make Pickup-only or Bulky items identifiable 
Stock data: Select product have an intentionally high weight e.g. 9999g or 99kg
General Shipping Profile: Standard Rate between 0-98.99kg - This prevents shipping checkout options of 99kg products.

Alert
When having complex or varied setups, website communication is key!


Shopify Shipping overview:

Use inbuilt options & consider apps to save time

Idea
Great for: All Shopify Plans
  1. Set flat rates based on shipping profiles using either total order price or weight.
    1. Set General Shipping Profile rates for all products
    2. If required, assign different rates to select products in a custom profile
    3. Shopify Help Center | Shipping profiles
  2. Fulfil orders by heading to the post office daily or manage directly via MyPost Business online.
    1. Take it a step further and use an app to speed up order fulfilment operations.
      For Example: 
      1. Australia Post EZ Label | Shopify App Store
      2. Joovii Australia Post Integration App | Shopify App Store
      3. Australia Post Rates & Labels | Shopify App Store
    1. Connect with apps to create custom checkout experiences or automate flat rate shipping profiles.
      For Example:
      1. Bird Pickup Delivery Date | Shopify App Store
      2. ASP‑Automate Shipping Profiles | Shopify App Store

    Leverage either inbuilt or calculated carrier options.

    Idea
    Great for: Grow & Advanced Plans
    1. Load stock with weights to benefit from carrier-calculated shipping
    2. Integrate with calculated carrier shipping apps.
      1. Shopify Help Center | Activating third-party carrier-calculated shipping
      2. App examples:
      3. Bespoke Shipping | Shopify App Store
      4. Australia Post Rates & Labels | Shopify App Store
    3. Consolidate different carriers. Integrate with fulfilment services
      App examples:
      1. ShipStation | Shopify Shipping and Tracking Integration 
      2. Starshipit | Shopify 
      3. Interparcel Business | Shopify Shipping


    For more information: