Support
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common questions about Smart Shipping
General Questions
What is Smart Shipping?
What is Smart Shipping?
Smart Shipping is an advanced shipping rate calculator app for Shopify stores. It allows you to create complex shipping rules based on zones, weight, price, quantity, and product groups, giving you complete control over your shipping strategy.
How much does Smart Shipping cost?
How much does Smart Shipping cost?
Smart Shipping offers two pricing plans:
- Monthly Plan: $10/month with a 7-day free trial
- Annual Plan: $100/year (save 17%)
Is there a free trial?
Is there a free trial?
Yes! All new installations include a 7-day free trial with full access to all features. No credit card required to start the trial.
Which Shopify plans are supported?
Which Shopify plans are supported?
Smart Shipping works with all Shopify plans that support carrier-calculated shipping:
- Shopify Basic
- Shopify
- Shopify Advanced
- Shopify Plus
Installation & Setup
How do I install Smart Shipping?
How do I install Smart Shipping?
- Visit the Smart Shipping page on the Shopify App Store
- Click “Add app”
- Review permissions and click “Install app”
- Choose your subscription plan
- Start configuring your zones and rates
Do I need technical knowledge to set up Smart Shipping?
Do I need technical knowledge to set up Smart Shipping?
No! Smart Shipping is designed to be user-friendly. The interface is intuitive, and you can set up basic shipping rates in just 5 minutes. For complex configurations, our documentation provides step-by-step guides.
Can I migrate from another shipping app?
Can I migrate from another shipping app?
Yes, you can switch from another shipping app to Smart Shipping. However, you’ll need to manually recreate your zones and rates as there’s no automatic import feature. We recommend:
- Document your current setup
- Install Smart Shipping
- Recreate zones and rates
- Test thoroughly before removing the old app
What happens to my existing Shopify shipping settings?
What happens to my existing Shopify shipping settings?
Smart Shipping creates a new carrier service that works alongside your existing Shopify shipping settings. Your current settings remain intact, and you can choose which zones use Smart Shipping rates.
Features & Functionality
How many shipping zones can I create?
How many shipping zones can I create?
Unlimited! You can create as many zones as needed for your business, whether that’s 2 zones or 200.
What types of shipping rates are supported?
What types of shipping rates are supported?
Smart Shipping supports multiple rate types:
- Free Shipping: With optional thresholds
- Flat Rate: Fixed price regardless of order details
- Weight-Based: Rates based on total order weight
- Price-Based: Percentage of order value
- Quantity-Based: Rates based on number of items
Can I offer free shipping over a certain amount?
Can I offer free shipping over a certain amount?
Yes! You can set free shipping thresholds for any rate. For example, “Free shipping on orders over $75” or “Free shipping for orders over 5 items.”
What are Product Groups?
What are Product Groups?
Product Groups allow you to apply different shipping rules to different types of products. For example:
- Fragile items can have a handling surcharge
- Oversized items can use different rates
- Digital products can be excluded from shipping
Can I test rates before going live?
Can I test rates before going live?
Yes! The Rate Sandbox feature lets you test your shipping configuration with sample orders before customers see them. You can verify rates for different destinations, cart values, and product combinations.
Shipping Zones
How do shipping zones work?
How do shipping zones work?
Zones define geographic areas where specific rates apply. You can create zones based on:
- Countries (e.g., US, CA, GB)
- States/Provinces (e.g., California, Ontario)
- Postal codes (including wildcards like 902*)
Can zones overlap?
Can zones overlap?
Yes! When zones overlap, the most specific zone takes priority. For example, a postal code zone will override a country zone for addresses in that postal code.
How do I ship internationally?
How do I ship internationally?
Create an international zone by:
- Adding specific countries to a zone, or
- Creating a zone with no country restrictions (acts as a catch-all)
Can I exclude certain areas from shipping?
Can I exclude certain areas from shipping?
Yes, by not including those areas in any zone. If an address doesn’t match any active zone, no shipping rates will be offered for that destination.
Troubleshooting
Why aren't my rates showing at checkout?
Why aren't my rates showing at checkout?
Common causes:
- The customer’s address doesn’t match any active zone
- All rates in the matching zone are inactive
- The carrier service is disabled
- Product restrictions are blocking the rates
Why are rates calculating slowly?
Why are rates calculating slowly?
Slow calculations can be caused by:
- Complex rate rules with many conditions
- Too many active rates (try to keep under 20 per zone)
- Network latency
Can I hide Smart Shipping rates for certain products?
Can I hide Smart Shipping rates for certain products?
Yes! Use Product Groups to:
- Create a group for products that shouldn’t use Smart Shipping
- Set the group modifier to exclude from shipping
- Assign products to that group
What happens if Smart Shipping is down?
What happens if Smart Shipping is down?
Smart Shipping has 99.9% uptime. In the rare event of downtime:
- Shopify will fall back to your backup shipping rates (if configured)
- Our status page will show current system status
- Priority support is available for urgent issues
Billing & Account
When does billing start?
When does billing start?
Billing starts after your 7-day free trial ends. You’ll receive an email reminder before the trial expires.
Can I change plans anytime?
Can I change plans anytime?
Yes! You can switch between monthly and annual plans at any time from the Billing section. When upgrading to annual, you’ll receive a prorated credit for any unused monthly time.
What happens if I uninstall the app?
What happens if I uninstall the app?
Uninstalling will:
- Cancel your subscription immediately
- Remove the carrier service from your store
- Delete all your zones and rates (cannot be recovered)
- Stop all shipping calculations
Can I pause my subscription?
Can I pause my subscription?
No pause feature is available. However, you can:
- Deactivate all zones to stop calculations
- Keep the app installed without active zones
- Reactivate zones when ready
Advanced Features
Can I set different rates for different customer groups?
Can I set different rates for different customer groups?
While Smart Shipping doesn’t directly support customer-specific rates, you can:
- Use Shopify’s native customer tags
- Create product groups for wholesale items
- Offer discount codes for specific customers
Can I add handling fees or surcharges?
Can I add handling fees or surcharges?
Yes! You can add fees by:
- Including handling in your base rates
- Using product groups to add surcharges for specific items
- Setting minimum rate amounts
Is there an API available?
Is there an API available?
Smart Shipping is designed to work through the Shopify admin interface. Direct API access is not currently available, but all features are accessible through the app dashboard.
Getting Help
How do I contact support?
How do I contact support?
You can reach our support team:
- Email: support@smartshipping.app
- Response time: Within 24 hours (business days)
- Priority support for annual subscribers
Is there documentation available?
Is there documentation available?
Yes! You’re reading it now. Our documentation includes:
- Step-by-step setup guides
- Feature explanations
- Troubleshooting guides
- Best practices
Do you offer setup assistance?
Do you offer setup assistance?
Yes! Annual plan subscribers get priority support which includes:
- Setup assistance via email
- Configuration recommendations
- Best practices for your use case
Where can I request new features?
Where can I request new features?
We love feedback! Send feature requests to:
- Email: feedback@smartshipping.app
- Include your use case and how it would help your business
Can’t find your answer? Contact our support team for personalized help.