How to Set Up Shopify Shipping : A Step-By-Step Guide for Beginners
Customers are significant to your Shopify store, and knowing how to set up Shopify shipping makes their experience better. It also helps the merchant keep up with the orders and choose the best shipping prices.
Integrating and setting up the full shipping software can be challenging. For example, a beginner will not know how to deal with the complexity of picking the best shipping options, automating label printing, and adding the rates. Luckily, our article has a step-by-step guide to help you.
Shopify shipping is free to use, so beginners do not need starting capital. Our article will mention the pros and cons of using Shopify shipping and then guide you on setting up the software. But before anything else, you first need to know what Shopify shipping is and how it works.
Let’s get into it.
Shopify Shipping
Shopify shipping is a free software for merchants that allows them to calculate real-time shipping rates for purchases and track shipments. Merchants on all the pricing plans can access it, but it is only available if you ship your items from the United States and Canada.
Shopify shipping collaborates with other shipping carriers like DHL Express, UPS, and Canada Post to provide shipping services for merchants. They offer discounted rates that can go as high as 88 percent.
Merchants using these shipping carriers can easily estimate their shipping expenses. This is possible because the carriers’ rates allow the merchants to list real-time shipping calculations on the order processing and the customer’s checkout.
Besides, Shopify shipping enables you to process your orders and print shipping labels. You can also create and print custom forms for international shipping and share the shipment tracking information with your customers.
Benefits of Using Shopify Shipping
E-commerce is growing tremendously, with Shopify shipping among the growing market platforms. Some of the reason for the recent growth is;
- The software is easy to use, a reason many merchants prefer it.
- Shopify shipping makes it easy to place orders and track all the shipments. Also, sharing the shipment tracking information with your customers increases trust, which is essential in business.
- Shopify shipping partners with other shipping carriers like DHL Express and Canada Post to give discounted rates, reducing the financial burden to business owners. It is a suitable marketplace for beginners.
- The software displays real-time shipping rates for order processing and customer checkout to help the merchants estimate their shipping expenses correctly.
Downsides of Using Shopify Shipping
When deciding whether to use a software or not, you most likely check how it works, its features, and its advantages. However, knowing the downsides helps the merchant be more aware of what they will be dealing with and check if they can commit to using it.
The main con of Shopify shipping software is that it is only available in the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, Shopify merchants in other countries cannot use the system.
The Cost of Using Shopify Shipping
Before starting shipping on Shopify, you will first want to know how much it costs. Fortunately, the software is free to access through your Shopify account, and it does not charge merchants any monthly fees.
Using a third-party app can be expensive because most of their charges range between $0 and $100 in a month. You will incur more expenses if you pay exchange rates or transfer rates. However, the cost varies with your number of orders and the level of your customer support.
Besides Shopify shipping being free to use, it also offers discounted rates because of the collaborations with other shipping carriers. Merchants will save a lot on shipping fees, and customers enjoy the discounted prices.
How to Set Up Free Shipping on Shopify
Shopping through Shopify will grow your e-commerce business by making shipping easier and attracting customers. Also, setting up the program is easy and less time-consuming because it is already in Shopify accounts.
This step-by-step guide will help you set up your program if you are a beginner. Take a look.
Adding the shipping address seems repetitive because you included your business address when setting up your Shopify account. However, this step is essential if you have a separate address for your warehouse. Check for the Locations section on the settings page and update the information.
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Choose the Shipping Carriers and Services
The available shipping carriers are DHL Express, UPS, USPS, and Canada Post. Your choice of carrier service will depend on the country you live in. Also, select the options for your shipment and tick the checkbox to bring those services to the order processing section.
You set the product weights using the calculations of real-time rates. You can use kilograms, pounds, or grams to set the product weights.
Once you set the product’s weight, specify your package materials’ weight under the default package. This will help Shopify shipping calculate the overall estimated weight of your product, which will be displayed on the customer’s checkout page.
You can use a desktop printer or a supported label printer to print the labels. If you want the regular paper labels, use the desktop printer. You can also attach these labels to your package using tape. Label printers are suitable if you want more advanced labels like stickers.
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Adjust the Shipping Zones Settings
Some merchants want to extend their shipping services to specific shipping zones, like areas near the warehouse. Others want to cover more expansive areas like across the world. You can select your shipping zones from the Shopify shipping settings.
Cross-check if you added the correct product weights, set a default package, and chose your preferred printer. If your information is accurate, your Shopify shipping is ready for use. You can fulfill orders and process the shipments now.
Types of Shipping Rates
While knowing how to set up shipping on Shopify for dropshipping, you should also know the different types of shipping rates. These rates depend on your product weight, dimensions, and destination distance.
Some merchants charge their customers shipping rates and other currency conversion fees but other sellers offer the services for free. The different types of shipping rates are;
Flat shipping rates are standard rates you put on the checkout. They are not influenced by many factors, not even the product’s weight. Besides, you can set different flat rates for various orders.
You can also set price-based shipping rates with a minimum and a maximum cart value. It applies to merchants who offer different order rates below or above a certain amount.
As a merchant, you can also use weight-based shipping rates. You will charge the shipping fee depending on the weight of the products ordered.
Most customers prefer free shipping, so you will sell many of your products. You can also make the flat rating a free shipping rate by setting it at $0. The merchant also has the freedom to set a limit for free shipping.
Final Words
If you just started your Shopify shipping business, first learn how to set up Shopify shipping. It is a straightforward process that takes less time than you think. Hopefully, our guide will help you to get through this process easily and quickly.