Overview
ShipSmart is a Shopify app that replaces basic shipping profiles with a rule-based engine. Instead of flat rates per country, you get fine-grained control: different prices for different postcodes, product types, cart sizes and more, all calculated in real time at checkout.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”When a customer reaches checkout, Shopify sends a carrier callback to ShipSmart with the cart contents and destination address. ShipSmart evaluates your shipping rules against that data and returns the matching rates. Shopify displays them as the available shipping options.
The whole process runs in under 3 seconds. Customers see only the rates that apply to their order.
Key concepts
Section titled “Key concepts”Postcode zones are named groups of postcodes or postcode ranges. You use zones to target delivery areas precisely. A rule attached to “Sydney Metro” only fires for postcodes in that zone. Rules with no zone attached act as fallbacks and apply to any destination.
Product groups let you target rules at specific products. You define a group by matching on vendor, product type or tag. A rule attached to a product group only fires when the cart contains a matching item.
Shipping rules are where everything comes together. Each rule specifies a postcode zone, a product group, optional conditions, a rate type and a service method. Active rules are evaluated at checkout in priority order.
Rate types give you 7 ways to calculate a shipping price:
| Rate type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Flat rate | Fixed price regardless of cart contents |
| Weight-based | Different price per weight bracket |
| Per weight | Price multiplied by total weight in kg |
| Per weight (tiered) | First kg at one rate, additional kg at another |
| Per item (tiered) | First item at one rate, additional items at another |
| Percentage | Price as a percentage of cart total |
| Free | $0, shown as a named free shipping option |
Conditions let you add extra filters to a rule beyond zone and product group. You can gate a rule on cart total, cart weight, item count, destination country or province, vendor, product title or SKU.
Conflict resolution controls what happens when multiple rules match the same service code. You can keep the highest rate, the lowest, the first match by priority order, or sum them all.
Global modifiers apply a surcharge or discount to every rate across your store. Useful for things like a fuel levy or a sitewide promotion.
The simulator lets you test your rules without going through checkout. Enter a destination and some cart items, click Simulate, and you’ll see exactly which rates would be returned and a trace of which rules matched or were skipped and why.
What you need to get started
Section titled “What you need to get started”- An active Shopify store
- The ShipSmart carrier service registered in your store settings
- At least one postcode zone
- At least one active shipping rule
The setup guide on the dashboard walks you through each step. See Installation to get up and running.