Shoppers consistently rate shipping as one of their top considerations when buying online. Offering free shipping and fast shipping can make your products more appealing to potential customers. This article provides information on how to set up free and fast shipping in Shopify and in Merchant Center.
If you're looking for information on setting up shipping for the first time, see the Set up Shipping (for Shopify users) article.
Set up free and fast shipping in Shopify
Free shipping
- Free shipping reassures customers that they won't be charged a surprise high shipping fee when they place their orders.
- Products eligible for free shipping can automatically show up with “Free delivery” annotations on Google.
- You can set up free shipping rates to any shipping zone, so customers don't pay anything for shipping at checkout.
- You can set up free shipping to be the only shipping rate on your store, or offer free shipping when specific criteria are met. These criteria can be based on orders over a certain value or on orders over a certain weight.
- You can also apply free shipping to specific products, or cater to specific customers.
Learn more about Creating free shipping rates.
Fast shipping
- Transit time is the time frame from when your shipping carrier collects the shipment from you, to when the shipment arrives at your customer's address.
- You can also offer expedited shipping options (1 to 3 business days) in addition to your flat shipping rates, to provide an option for customers who want their products quickly.
- Express shipping can be offered to specific states or for limited products. You can simply indicate this information when setting up your shipping zones in Shopify.
- Products eligible for fast shipping can automatically show up with annotations on Google.
- You can add carrier-calculated shipping rates that help you charge your customers the exact amount that a shipping carrier, such as UPS or FedEx, will charge you when you purchase a shipping label. Learn how to add carrier-calculated shipping rates.
Note: Make sure to confirm which shipping carriers and services Google supports. If you use an unsupported shipping carrier or live in another country or region, then you need to use custom flat shipping rates. Learn more about transit time based on available shipping carrier options in each country.
Learn how to set up transit time for your flat shipping rates.
Set up free and fast shipping in Merchant Center
Free shipping
- Products with free and fast shipping options appear with annotations on Google Search, the Shopping tab, and in their ads.
- To enable free shipping, you can choose from options such as free shipping or free shipping over a certain amount while setting up your shipping cost.
Fast shipping
- Showcase same-day delivery if that’s a service you offer.
- If you’re a retailer that ships products domestically to the US, France, or Germany, you can choose to let Google calculate a shipping speed (sometimes called “delivery time”) for your customers. Refer to this article for instructions on how to set carrier-calculated transit times for a new shipping service.
- You can also share your order history with your delivery partners to enable fast and efficient shipping. By having access to your order history, the delivery partner can optimize routes, reduce delivery times, and enhance overall shipping service.