How can I add real time shipping rates to my online store?

[Roxy07]

Is there a way to add real time shipping rates from fed ex, ups etc on your store? I am looking to add this feature so the customer can check for themselves the shipping rates. I am having a hard time figuring out reasonable rates and think this would be so helpful! 

any help or suggestions is appreciated 

[Anindita]

Hi @Roxy07,

Yes definitely! You can display real-time shipping rates for FedEx, UPS, USPS, Canada Post, DHL & for more than 30+ carriers with Shopify Multi Carrier Shipping Label App. 

The app comes with a 14 day free trial so you can install it & see if it works for you. Let me know if you have any queries. I will be happy to help!

[Rick]

Hey @Roxy07 

That is a great question! 

What you are referring to would be called Carrier Calculated Shipping. You can absolutely do this on your Shopify store. It's a great way to display dynamically calculated rates to your customers, so that the shipping cost is always accurate. We have more information on Carrier Calculated Shipping here.

The Carrier Calculated Shipping feature is actually included as standard in both the Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans. It can be added to any other plan for a monthly fee of $20 on top of your usual monthly subscription. You simply need to contact our support team here and request that it be added to your account. After that you can get started on setting up your rates.

Something to be aware of is if you're on the Shopify plan or below, and you switch to annual billing, Carrier Calculated Shipping is included for free. This could be a great way to pay up front and save money over the course of the year, as you would normally have to pay for your subscription + Carrier Calculated Shipping every month. You would stand to save $240 a year on the Carrier Calculated Shipping cost, and approximately 10% a year on your subscription.

If you are in a region that supports Shopify Shipping, you may be able to display Carrier Calculated Shipping rates using Shopify's own carrier accounts, at no extra cost to you. You would use Shopify's carrier accounts and not your own third party ones. One huge benefit to this is that you can purchase and print the shipping labels right from the order page on your admin. More info on Shopify Shipping here.

[squirrelbrand]

Hello Rick.

I found this answer and it is exactly the solution to the problem i'm having. I tried speaking with a Spotify rep and I guess it sounds like paying annually and getting calculated shipping at any plan below Shopify is no longer available, do you know if that's the case?

Thank you!

[Rick]

Hi @squirrelbrand 

Thanks for reaching out here and welcome to the Shopify Community - I can see this is your first post here. Apologies for my delay in replying to this thread - I have been out of office.

Yes, you are correct. Some of the information in my previous replies from last year is now outdated, as there have been some updates to how Carrier Calculated Shipping (CCS) works with various plans.

It is not possible to have CCS added to the Basic or Starter plans, either as a monthly add-on or as an included feature with an annual plan. The Shopify plan can have CCS added as a monthly $20 add-on, or it can be obtained for free by changing your billing frequency to an annual plan. Same as before, Advanced and Plus merchants will continue to have CCS included in their plan by default.

You mentioned that you were experiencing a problem - is this related to the shipping settings on your store, and you feel CCS would help to solve this? I would love to hear more about this so that I can do my best to help, so feel free to share more context on what is happening.

Have you explored the option of using Shopify Shipping instead of a third-party carrier with CCS enabled? Shopify Shipping is a built-in shipping solution provided by Shopify to help merchants streamline their shipping processes - it comes at no extra cost to you, however you need to be in a supported region.

[squirrelbrand]

Hello again, Rick.

Thank you for your reply, I knew you were out so I’ve been waiting
patiently!

I am open to any solution including using Shopify shipping or paying for a
year in advance for my basic service. The person I chatted with at Shopify
before you said I could not get the CSS with a one year prepayment, which
is why I reached out to you.

What I am trying to achieve is for my customers to be able to buy a product
on my site and be able to see what it will cost to ship based on where they
are shipping to and what they’re buying.

On my current Square site, I have the same problem, I can not offer CCS so
I offer a USPS flat rate, which is $17.50. So if a customer wants to buy
one item that costs $10, they end up paying $27.50 for my one $10 item. And
no one wants to pay that.

I really appreciate you replying and look forward to any ideas or
suggestions you might have, thank you for your time and consideration!

Eryn March
Squirrel Brand Preserved Goods Co.

[Rick]

Hi @squirrelbrand 

Thanks for getting back with this extra info!

I understand that you want customers to have more transparency over the shipping costs, rather than just having flat rates that could put some people off from purchasing, due to the cost. It's certainly important to find a balance between offering competitive shipping rates and covering your own costs.

I can see that you have already experimented with a flat rate shipping strategy, and you feel that it's not working - that's OK, it's a great learning exercise to try these things out and see what works for your business and what does not.

Based on your description of what you would want, it certainly does sound like calculated rates would be the way to go. If you are in a Shopify Shipping supported region, I would highly encourage you to check that out first, as it may be the least expensive option.

Alternatively, if Shopify Shipping is not available, you would need to enable Carrier Calculated Shipping and most likely use a third-party app to get calculated rates - an annual Shopify plan may make the most sense in terms of value, as you avail of a discounted price for the year and get CCS as an included bonus.

Out of curiosity, have you considered implementing any sort of free shipping rates on your store? For example, you could offer free shipping for orders over $50. This can incentivize customers to add more items to their cart and reach the free shipping threshold.

[squirrelbrand]

Thank you again, Rick. I will watch the linked video and see if I can
figure it out. I will get back with you if I have any other questions,
you've been very helpful!

Eryn