Setting up default delivery options

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

  • Store setup: Shipping across Virginia, free shipping at $60+; free local delivery within 10 miles of Richmond at $35+.

  • Problem: Even when orders qualify for free local delivery, checkout defaults to shipping unless customers manually switch. Apple Pay (and similar express methods) bypasses the delivery vs. shipping choice entirely.

  • Defaulting to local delivery: Not possible natively in Shopify. No third‑party app can change protected checkout code to enforce this behavior.

  • Express checkout (Apple Pay): These accelerated checkouts auto-fill customer details and skip the shipping method step, so customers aren’t offered delivery options. Shopify has limited control because these are third‑party flows.

  • Suggested workaround: Continue prominent messaging; consider sending the shipping cost difference as a discount or gift card for affected orders.

  • Actions/next steps: Shopify staff will forward the feedback to developers for consideration, with no guarantees or timeline.

  • Status: Unresolved/ongoing. No current way to auto-select local delivery or modify Apple Pay’s flow within Shopify.

Summarized with AI on February 5. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Our store offers shipping in the state of Virginia, free shipping if the order totals $60 or more, and free local delivery within 10 miles of our location in Richmond if the order totals $35 or more. But for those orders that meet the requirements for local delivery, customers still have to know to select that option if it’s available. I think we communicate that well in our store. The automated messages that go out to abandoned carts also remind customers about the option. Still, we often get orders that default to shipping even though the order qualifies for free delivery. Two questions about that:

  1. Is there a way to default to local delivery if the address is within the delivery radius and the order meets the minimum requirement we set up? It seems like it’s not possible, but maybe I’m overlooking a setting somewhere.

  2. Customers using Apple Pay (and possibly other quick mobile payment methods) have a completely different user experience and are never even presented with the opportunity to select delivery vs. shipping. Is there any way around that?

Defaulting to shipping brings in more money to the store because of shipping costs when the order doesn’t hit the free shipping minimum but it’s not a great customer experience and I’d like to fix that. Thanks!

2

Hi @steelycanwine ,

I totally get why you’d want local delivery to be available by default *if the cart meets the right criteria*, and it’s great to see that you are giving CX the value it deserves.

With that said, there is no means of achieving what you want to achieve natively within our system, and there is no third-party app that could make as complex a change to our protected checkout code.

It’s great that you’re making it clear to everyone as best as you can that free delivery is an option, but if someone misses the messaging and still opts to pay for shipping, you could always send them the difference as a discount code off their next order! You could send it as a free gift card, for example.

What I will do in the meantime is pass your feedback on to our developers for consideration.
Obviously, I cannot guarantee that this is something that could be implemented, nor would I know what timeframe that would happen within. But it’s a great idea worth sharing, so thank you for that!

In relation to the different UX that customers have when using dynamic checkout like Apple Pay, I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. Accelerated or express checkouts save customer payment and shipping information so that returning customers can more quickly complete payment for their orders.

When a customer returns to a store that offers an accelerated checkout method, their information is automatically filled in at checkout - as a result, they will not be provided with the option to choose their shipping. This is not really something we have much control over, as express checkouts are third-party functions, but I will pass this feedback on as well in the hope that our developers can mitigate against this.

Meanwhile, how is your business doing otherwise? What is it that you’re selling and how are you preparing for BFCM?