Using Shopify shipping profiles with the Shopify Checkout Integration
Shopify shipping profiles allow you to create shipping rates for specific products. This allows you to offer international shipping rates, create custom rates, and specify conditional logic. In addition, you can offer free shipping for subscription products to incentivize customers. This guide provides instructions on using Shopify shipping profiles with the Shopify Checkout Integration.
- Shopify Checkout Integration
Before you start
Previously, subscription and one-time products shared the same shipping rates in Shopify. Using this feature, Shopify Checkout Integration merchants can now use the available Shopify shipping profile settings to offer international, custom, price-based, weight-based, and/or free shipping rates for subscription products only. Increasing control over shipping rates allows merchants to offer different shipping rates for subscription products and incentivize customers to subscribe.
Before you start, note the following:
- To use this feature with Recharge, you will need to configure a shipping profile in Shopify. See Enable the feature to get started.
- Shipping settings for subscription-based shipping profiles in Shopify work with both price and weight thresholds.
- This feature applies your configured subscription shipping profile rates to both checkout and recurring charges.
- This feature applies shipping profile rates to both new and existing subscriptions from the Shopify Checkout. If you migrated to the Shopify Checkout Integration from the Recharge Checkout, this feature will not impact Recharge Checkout subscriptions.
- After configuration, this feature can take up to ten minutes to apply shipping profile rates, depending on the number of existing subscriptions you have in your store. If you experience issues with shipping rates applying or are stuck in a pending state when enabling the feature, contact the Recharge support team.
- If you already have shipping profiles set up in Shopify, this feature creates a distinct shipping profile that only applies to subscriptions. The subscription shipping profile will not impact your existing shipping profiles.
- You can use this feature to offer either free shipping on subscriptions or configure custom shipping rates for subscriptions.
Limitations
Note the following limitations before enabling this feature:
- This feature does not support expedited shipping options at this time.
- With this feature enabled, shipping profile settings apply to all subscriptions for both new and existing customers. If you have migrated to the Shopify Checkout Integration, this feature will typically not impact existing subscribers from before your migration. The Shopify Checkout Integration conversion team can assist with any unforeseen issues migrating existing customers.
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When reviewing customer orders with multiple queued charges, you’ll notice that only the shipping rate for the next upcoming queued charge will accurately reflect the shipping rates you have set up in your Subscription Shopify Shipping Profile. Queued charges in the future after this next upcoming charge may display incorrect rates. This is expected behavior and as soon as that upcoming queued charge processes, the following charge's shipping rates will get updated to the Subscription shipping profile rate.
- Example: The customer holds multiple subscriptions with different frequencies, one billed every 30 days and another every 60 days. There are currently two queued charges: one scheduled for September 1st and another for October 30th. The charge on September 1st accurately reflects the shipping rate specified in the Subscription shipping profile. On the other hand, the charge scheduled for October 30th displays an estimated shipping rate. Upon the successful processing of the September 1st charge, the October 30th charge will be automatically updated with the accurate shipping rate from the Subscription shipping profile.
- You cannot configure product-based shipping profiles using this feature. Shipping profiles you create will apply to all subscription products on your store.
- For checkout orders, Shopify presents customers with shipping rates generated from your general shipping profile for one-time products and shipping rates separately from your subscription shipping profile for subscriptions.
Enable the feature
Refer to the following steps to enable this feature:
- From the merchant portal, click Settings and select Shipping.
- From the Shipping settings page, click Create Shopify shipping profile to enable the feature.
- Shipping rates must be configured in Shopify before subscription products are assigned to specific rates. Click Configure shipping rates in Shopify to launch Shopify and set up your shipping profile.
Warning: Do not add products to your shipping profile in Shopify. If you add products to your shipping profile in Shopify, we won't be able to complete the setup of this feature. Recharge will add subscription products to your shipping profile for you during setup. - From your Shopify Manage shipping profile page, click Add rates.
- For each shipping zone you want in your shipping profile, click Create zone in the Shipping zones section.
- Enter a name for the zone and select the desired countries and regions.
- In the Shipping zones section, click Add rate and enter your desired rate for your shipping zone. If you are configuring price or weight conditions, you can add those here.
- Repeat steps 5-7 to configure additional zones and rates.
- If you have multiple shipping locations you can repeat the above steps to configure rates by location or inherit the rates from a previously configured location.
- Save your changes in Shopify.
- After setting up your Shopify shipping profile, navigate back to Recharge and click My rates look good.
- Click Assign subscription products. This will associate your subscriptions to your configured shipping profile.
- After completing the previous steps, the feature is marked as enabled on the Shipping settings page.
Managing shipping profiles
After configuring shipping profiles, you may need to update them. You can access and manage your shipping profiles from the Recharge merchant portal. Refer to the following steps to access and manage your shipping profiles:
- From the Recharge merchant portal, click Settings and select Shipping.
- Click Manage my subscription shipping rates to launch the shipping profile in the Shopify admin.
- Review and update your shipping profiles as needed and click Save when finished.
Warning: If you update your shipping profile rates or settings in Shopify after the initial setup, you must contact the Recharge support team to ensure your new rates are reflected on your existing subscriptions’ queued charges.
If you update your shipping profile rates or settings in Shopify, please note that customers with multiple queued orders will still see the original shipping rate on their next queued charge. If you need the new shipping profile rates to apply to the next queued charge, please contact Recharge Support to have the rates updates and reflected on the next queued charge for your customers.
Disable the feature
Refer to the following steps to disable the feature:
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- From the Recharge merchant portal, click Settings and select Shipping.
- Click Disable subscription shipping rate management and select Disable in the pop-up modal.
FAQ
Can I prevent my current subscribers from receiving free shipping if I configure a free shipping profile?
No. Shipping profile rates apply to all subscriptions, both new and existing.
Can I test the feature?
Yes. After enabling the feature, you can verify your configuration by going through a test checkout.
Can I configure my profile to have different rates for domestic and international subscriptions?
Yes, you can configure different rates for domestic and international orders. For example, you can offer free shipping within the US and charge shipping for orders shipping to Canada.