Shipping policies in the Shopify Collective app

Shipping policies let you offer multiple shipping rates from Shopify Collective suppliers on your store's checkout. You can also display order transit times, and you can set the wording and language for your shipping rate names and transit time descriptions so that they match what you already have on your store.

Your shipping policies and rules are displayed to suppliers on their connection details page after they connect with your store.

Default shipping policies

A default shipping policy is automatically created in your Collective (Retailer) app. You can edit the default policy and create custom policies. Shipping policies contain different rules that you can adjust to meet your requirements.

The default shipping policy behavior is to Display all available supplier rates on your store's checkout for Shopify Collective orders. The default policy displays in your Shopify Collective app settings with the following rules:

  • Shipping rates: 3 zones, display all available supplier rates

Considerations for shipping policies

The rules that you set in your shipping policies apply only when a supplier selects Calculated at checkout for their Collective shipping. If a supplier selects Flat rate for any of their Collective shipping zones, then the shipping rate name defaults to Standard Shipping on your store's checkout for any customer that has a Collective product shipped to that zone by the relevant supplier. You can't change this default shipping rate name.

Understanding rules in shipping policies

You can change the settings for the different rules that are displayed in your Shopify Collective app settings when you edit a default policy or create a custom policy.

You can set different rules for your United States, Canada, or International shipping zones, or you can have the same rules for all shipping zones.

You can display suppliers' shipping rates, and the rate names and rate descriptions. You might also display the shipping rates' transit time estimates and delivery date estimates where applicable.

Review the following options for deciding which supplier shipping rates you display on your store's checkout for Shopify Collective orders.

Explanation of the different settings available for retailers to set up their Shipping rules for shipping policies in the Shopify Collective app
OptionDescription
All available ratesSelect this option to display all supplier shipping rates and their details. For example, with a supplier that has two different shipping rates for different shipping speeds, you might display the following on your store's checkout:
  • Standard and 3 to 7 business days as a lower cost shipping rate.
  • Express and 1 to 2 business days as a higher cost shipping rate.
Lowest cost rateSelect this option to display only the supplier's lowest cost shipping rate and its details. You can set the Rate name to be the same as a shipping rate name that you already have on your store. This overrides the supplier's own rate name.

For example, with a supplier that has a lower cost shipping rate called Standard with a transit time of between 3 and 7 days, and a higher cost shipping rate called Express with a transit time of 1 to 2 business days, you can display only the lowest cost shipping rate with your own name of Economy and 3 to 7 business days.
Rates with a specific transit timeSelect this option if you want your shipping rate names and transit time ranges for Collective orders to be the same as the rate names and transit times that you already have on your store. You can have up to a maximum of 3 rates with a specific transit time per shipping zone.

When a supplier has a shipping rate with a transit time that fits into a range that you set, the relevant shipping rate name and transit time description from your Collective shipping policy are displayed on your store's checkout with the supplier's shipping cost. For example, if you set a rate called Economy with a transit time of between 3 and 7 days, then any suppliers that have a shipping rate with a transit time anywhere between 3 and 7 days have their rate displayed on your store's checkout as Economy and 3 to 7 business days.

If any of your suppliers' transit times don't match any of the transit time ranges that you set, then you can set a Fallback rate name to be displayed on your store's checkout instead.
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