Combining shipping rates from different shipping profiles at checkout

If you create multiple shipping profiles or have multiple locations within profiles, then some orders might contain products from different profiles or locations. When this happens, the separate shipping rates for each product are combined and a single shipping rate is displayed to your customer at checkout.

Combining weight-based and price-based shipping rates

Price-based shipping rates and weight-based shipping rates are combined differently. Price-based shipping rates apply to the total price of the cart. Weight-based shipping rates combine the weights of the individual products in the cart, with yourstore default packageweight added to each product's weight.

For example, suppose you have a store default package weight of 1 lb. A customer places an order for two products that requires weight-based shipping rates to be combined. The first product weighs 3 lb and the second weighs 5 lb. The weight that is used to determine the weight-based shipping rate for each product is the product weight plus the store default package weight.

For the first product, whichever shipping rate applies to a 4 lb shipment is used (3 lb + 1 lb). For the second product, whichever shipping rate applies for a 6 lb shipment (5 lb + 1 lb) is used. The two rates from each product are then combined to provide the shipping rate that the customer selects at checkout.

Naming your shipping rates

Shipping rates with the same name are added together and shown to your customer at checkout, even those in different shipping profiles. If all of your rates have different names, then the cheapest options are added together and shown to your customer at checkout with the nameShipping.

For example, suppose that you have two shipping profiles: one for cat beds and one for cat food. They each offer a standard mail service and an expedited mail service. If the standard and expedited mail services have the same name in both shipping profiles, then a customer who places an order with cat food and a cat bed sees both shipping options at checkout.

If the rates aren't named the same in both profiles, then only the cheapest options are added together and shown to the customer at checkout asShipping.

Combined rates for products in different profiles

For example, suppose that you have a shipping profile for a cat bed that charges 3 USD shipping worldwide and a shipping profile for cat food that charges 5 USD shipping worldwide. If a customer orders both the cat bed and cat food, then the customer would get a shipping rate of 8 USD in their checkout.

Combined rates when only one location can fulfill the order

Rates are added together only if there is no option to have a single rate from one shipping profile or location. If all items can come from one location but there is more than one location that carries these items, thenfulfillment prioritypicks which location fulfills the order.

In the last example, the fulfillment priority chooses the Canadian location to fulfill both items because it has both products available. This gives the customer a combined rate of 13 USD in the checkout. If cat food was available at the United States location, then the combined shipping rate would be 8 USD.

Combined rates within a single shipping profile

If a single location can't fulfill an order, then the shipping rates of all products are added together, even if the products are in the same group of locations within a profile.

In the table below, suppose a cat bed costs 30 USD.

An order of two cat beds costs 60 USD. Because the shipping rates are based on price, the rates that apply to orders of 60 USD from each profile are combined.

Instead, consider a situation where weight-based shipping rates are combined. Suppose a cat bed weighs 2 lb.

Because the shipping rates are based on weight, the individual weights of the products in each location are used to determine which rates should be combined. Each cat bed is 2 pounds, so the rates that apply for orders of 2 pounds are combined.