Creating Shipping Rules for Different Product Categories
with the Better Shipping App for Shopify
Learn how to set up different shipping rules for each product category in your store - from heavy furniture to small accessories.
Last week a furniture store owner emailed me with a problem I hear all the time: "I can't offer free shipping on my sofas, but I want to offer it on my cushions and accessories. How do I set that up?"
It's a common headache when you're selling products of different sizes. The default Shopify shipping settings treat everything the same way - which just doesn't work when you're shipping both a sofa and a throw pillow.
I helped this store owner set up their shipping rules using product tags, and now they've got different shipping rates for each category. Their customers can get free shipping on small items while still covering the shipping costs for furniture. Here's how we did it.
First, we created tags for their main categories - 'furniture', 'accessories', and 'decor'. Then in Better Shipping, we set up a rule that checks if there's any furniture in the cart. If there is, it applies their furniture shipping rate. But if the cart only has accessories or decor items, those get the free shipping rate.
Another merchant I worked with recently sells both t-shirts and framed artwork with their designs. They needed completely different shipping rules for each. We set it up so orders with framed art always get special handling shipping, while t-shirt orders can qualify for free shipping over $75. The best part? It all happens automatically at checkout - no manual work needed.
You can get pretty creative with this. One of our merchants sells plants and gardening supplies. They set up their shipping so orders with live plants always get express shipping (to keep the plants healthy), while regular gardening supplies use standard shipping rates.
The trick is to think about your products in groups. What items can ship together? Which ones need special handling? Once you've got that sorted, Better Shipping can handle the rules automatically.
Want to try setting up category-specific shipping for your store? Here are some ideas that work well:
- Different rates for fragile vs non-fragile items
- Express shipping only for perishable products
- Free shipping on high-margin items
- Special handling for oversized products
Just remember to test your rules before going live. I usually suggest creating a test order with different combinations of products to make sure everything works the way you want.
Need help figuring out the best setup for your products? Email me - I love solving shipping puzzles and helping merchants find what works for their store.
Ready to set up your own product category shipping rules? You can try it out for free on the Shopify App Store.