Override Physical Product Setting

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A nonprofit food rescue organization lists physical items as “digital products” in Shopify to bypass shipping options, since they only offer local pickup. The issue: volunteers sometimes accidentally check the “Physical Product” box when creating new items, which triggers unwanted shipping details and packing slips.

Proposed Solutions:

  • Use a Shopify app to automate product settings (may involve additional costs)
  • Custom development via Shopify’s API to auto-set products as digital (requires technical expertise)
  • Provide better volunteer training to prevent errors

Accepted Solution:
Convert products to “Physical” but remove all shipping rates under Settings > Shipping & Delivery > Manage Rates (keep shipping zones intact). Then configure Local Pickup & Delivery only. This forces checkout to display only pickup options without requiring the digital product workaround.

Status: Original poster confirmed this solution will work. A follow-up question emerged about difficulty finding the physical/digital product checkbox in the product settings page.

Summarized with AI on October 26. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Our non profit rescues food that we then redistribute to the public. All our items, while physical, are listed as Digital to override the shipping option as we only offer pick up at our location.

Sometimes a volunteer will pick checking the Physical Product box in a new product set up, this forces the shipping details and a second page packing slip.

Is there a way to have “This is a digital product” automatically selected for all new products? Or is there a way to remove all shipping options and if so will that force all items to be digital or pick up only?

I’ve been thrown in the deep end and have only being using Shopify a few months.

Thanks.

2

Hi @JustAVolunteer

there are a few tip that you might want to consider:

  1. Use a Shopify App: There might be Shopify apps available that can automate the product listing process according to your needs. However, this would require some research to find a suitable app and might involve additional costs.

  2. Custom Development: If you have access to a developer or have the resources to hire one, you could potentially customize your Shopify store to automate the product listing process. Shopify’s API allows for a lot of customization, and a developer could potentially write a script to automatically set new products as digital. Please note that this would require technical expertise and a good understanding of Shopify’s API.

  3. Training: It could be beneficial to provide more thorough training to the volunteers who are setting up the new products. This could help to minimize the instances of the “Physical Product” box being checked inadvertently.

I recommend checking Shopify’s official documentation or reaching out to Shopify’s support for the most recent and accurate information, as the platform is continuously evolving and the information might have changed after my last update.

1 Like
3

Hi, @JustAVolunteer

Greetings, and thanks for posting!

There is actually an easy solution for this! However, it will require you to adjust your products from Digital to Physical.

Once the products are physical products will simply remove any shipping rates you have under Settings > Shipping & Delivery > Manage Rates. From here, select the 3 dots next to each shipping rate, and select delete. Please note, make sure to keep the Shipping Zones in tact, but remove the rates.

Once the rates are removed, set up your Local Pickup & Delivery. Once this is complete your checkout will only show Local Pickup & Delivery options!

In the meantime, I’d love to take a look at your site to see what additional feedback I can provide!

1 Like
4

Thanks so much for your help Skye! This is going to work perfectly.

1 Like
5

Hey there,

I’m trying to adjust one of my product from Digital to Physical but I’m having a hard time of it. I’m unable to see the checkbox to mark a product as physical / this product requires shipping in the product page and i can’t find any help on it in detail.