Shipping rules

How it works

Shipping methods come from one of two places:

Use your store's shipping methods

SparkLayer shows your eCommerce platform's shipping methods and rates out of the box, with nothing to configure.

Show B2B-only shipping methods on Shopify

Choose which method is pre-selected (Shopify)

Change shipping costs after an order is placed on Shopify

Offer local pickup on Shopify

Set up SparkLayer shipping rules

SparkLayer shipping rates have two parts:

Copy the rates from your eCommerce platform or backend system, so customers see the same costs everywhere. For example, if UK customers get free shipping over £100, set up the same rule here.

What SparkLayer shipping rules can do

SparkLayer shipping rules can:

• Offer B2B-only methods in chosen countries (and, for some countries, states or regions) to chosen customer groups.
• Pick a band by the order's net total or its weight.
• Charge each band's cost: free, a fixed price, a percentage of the net total, or a message instead of a cost.

They can't:

• Charge by the kilogram. A band's price is fixed for the band, and the order's weight only picks the band. For example, a £10 band from 0 to 5,000 g costs £10 for a 1 kg order and for a 5 kg order.
• Set rates by product, product tag or collection.
• Fetch live carrier rates.

For any of these, use your store's shipping with a shipping app instead. See Show B2B-only shipping methods on Shopify.

Turn on SparkLayer shipping rates

1. Go to Settings,Shipping (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab)Opens in your SparkLayer DashboardTakes you straight to Settings › Shipping to do this now, whichever platform you're on. Opens in a new tab..
2. Under Shipping rates, tick Use SparkLayer shipping rates ("Set B2B-only shipping methods, priced by customer group, order total or weight").
3. Click Save.

The Shipping methods card appears, listing each method's Countries, Customer groups ("All groups" when none are chosen), number of Bands and Priority. To go back to your store's own rates, untick the box.

Some platforms need an extra step:

If you set up shipping during a trial

Shipping methods and bands you set up during a trial can stay live at checkout after you move to the free plan, while their settings become locked so you can't change them. To switch them off, contact our support team.

Create a shipping method

1. At Settings,Shipping (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab)Opens in your SparkLayer DashboardTakes you straight to Settings › Shipping to do this now, whichever platform you're on. Opens in a new tab., click Create shipping method.
2. Fill in the fields below, then click Save. Add bands once the method is saved.

To delete a method, open it and choose More actions > Delete method. It disappears from checkout; orders already placed keep their shipping.

Add shipping bands

Shipping bands set a method's cost, by Order total (net) or Order weight (grams). Weight bands always use grams, so convert from oz or lb if your products use them.

1. Open the shipping method and, under Shipping bands, click Add band.
2. Fill in the fields below, then click Add band.
3. Add more bands to cover the rest of your order values or weights.

Band order sets each band's priority. At checkout, the first band the order matches sets the cost, so a free shipping band only applies if no band above it also matches the order. Make sure the bands cover every order value or weight with no gaps: an order whose weight falls in a gap gets no rate from this method.

To change a band, click Edit next to it. Remove deletes it: orders it covered fall to the next matching band, or the method won't show for them.

Show a message instead of a cost

Use the Custom message cost type when you can't confirm the cost yet. At checkout, the method shows a message such as "To be confirmed" instead of a cost. The order's shipping cost is set to 0.00, so you can edit it afterwards.

1. Add or edit a band and set Cost type to Custom message, then save it.
2. In the Shipping bands table, the band's Cost shows its key, shipping.custom-message. followed by the band's name in lowercase with dashes, for example shipping.custom-message.orders-under-250. Copy it.
3. Go to Storefront,Options,Translation overrides (opens in your SparkLayer Dashboard in a new tab)Opens in your SparkLayer DashboardTakes you straight to Storefront › Options › Translation overrides to do this now, whichever platform you're on. Opens in a new tab., click Add override, choose the key and enter your message, such as "To be confirmed".
4. Click Save and publish.

For more on translation overrides, see Change checkout text.

/* Replace orders-under-250 with your band's key */
translations: {
  en: {
    "shipping.custom-message.orders-under-250": "To be confirmed",
  }
},

<!-- SparkLayer Core Script: in your theme, just before </head>.
     Already have window.sparkOptions? Add just the setting to it. -->
<script>
  window.sparkOptions = {
    /* Replace orders-under-250 with your band's key */
    translations: {
      en: {
        "shipping.custom-message.orders-under-250": "To be confirmed",
      }
    },
  };
</script>

Test your shipping rates

Your methods show in the My Cart and on Review & Pay, such as Standard Shipping £20.00 and Express Shipping £50.00. Try different countries, customer groups, order values and weights to check the right methods and costs show.

Set a custom shipping rate as a sales agent

With Sales agent ordering, a sales agent whose role has the Change shipping permission, such as the built-in Sales administrator, can set a custom shipping rate at checkout. It overrides your shipping rules.

Troubleshooting