Frequently Asked Questions

Categories:

• The Basics
• Good To Know
• Activity
• Scenarios
• Shipping Methods
• Zones & Subzones
• ShipStation
• Rate Blending
• Products
• Shopify Carrier-Calculated Shipping
• Settings
• Notifications
• Setup & Testing
• Troubleshooting
• Support
• Account & Billing

Intuitive Shipping gives you complete control over how shipping rates are calculated and shown at checkout. Use conditions to decide exactly when and how rates appear.

Go beyond simple cart- or product-based shipping. Blend rates, create tiers, or set dominant charges that override others based on cart contents. Free shipping can be conditional too, not just all or nothing.

Offer special rates for VIPs, wholesale, or repeat buyers. Set localized rates based on customer location. Customize titles, descriptions, and delivery times, even with live carrier rates.

SmartBoxing packs orders efficiently at checkout to reduce waste and shipping costs.

With Intuitive Shipping, you can handle nearly any shipping setup.

If your shipping needs go beyond the built-in capabilities of your eCommerce platform, Intuitive Shipping gives you the control and flexibility to handle just about any situation.

Here are some of the top reasons merchants choose Intuitive Shipping:

Rules - Choose from over 40 condition types to customize your shipping setup.

Packages - Choose between rigid boxes or flexible mailers, pack items separately, or assign custom containers to get accurate live rates.

SmartBoxing - Accurately calculate dimensional shipping with efficient packing that reduces costs, materials and fulfillment time.

Blended Rates - Go beyond simple rate combining. Display totals, averages, or select the fastest, cheapest or best-value option, even across multiple carriers.

Customization - Tailor method titles, add processing time to delivery estimates, and control how specific products affect shipping costs.

Condition Groups - Combine multiple conditions into one logical group to reduce setup complexity and streamline your Scenarios.

Sub-zones - Use postal codes to restrict or fine-tune shipping options for local or hard-to-reach areas.

PO Box Exclusion - Prevent checkout with a PO box or offer alternate methods that support PO box delivery.

Restricted Shipping - Limit shipping for products that are oversized, perishable, hazardous or restricted.

Advanced Options - Offer conditional free shipping, wholesale rates, tiered pricing, per-unit or percentage-based costs, and local delivery or pickup.

Intuitive Shipping is currently available on:

• Shopify
• BigCommerce.

All Intuitive Shipping features are included with every billing plan. Pricing is based on completed orders per month. Test checkouts, abandoned carts, and most POS orders do not count toward your limit.

If you’re using Shopify’s POS Pro, orders that require shipping will count against your plan.

Priority support is available on our Enterprise plan.

You can use Intuitive Shipping for free for an unlimited time, as long as you’re in Sandbox mode. take the time to configure everything just right! Best of all, it doesn't count towards your free trial!

To use Intuitive Shipping on a live checkout, you'll need to select a billing plan to activate your free trial. For more information, check out our billing FAQs below.

We currently provide rates from these carriers:

• Australia Post
• Australia Post Retail/Retail Letter
• Canada Post
• Canpar
• DHL eCommerce
• DHL Express
• FedEx
• FedEx Freight LTL
• Purolator
• United States Postal Service (USPS)
• UPS

We offer integrated services with:

• ShipStation
• Starshipit
• Easyship

If your preferred carrier or integrated service isn’t listed, let us know! We’ll add them to our wish list. For more information about carriers, check out the shipping method FAQs on this page.

Intuitive Shipping is an advanced shipping calculator that helps you control how shipping rates are calculated at checkout.

For shipping labels and order fulfillment, check with your eCommerce platform or use a third-party fulfillment app.

Shopify Profiles provides merchants with some flexibility and customization when calculating shipping rates. Intuitive Shipping’s Scenarios can do everything that Profiles were intended to do and much more!

If you’re using Shopify, we strongly recommend using one Shipping Profile with Intuitive Shipping and managing your shipping requirements with Scenarios.

Learn more about how Intuitive Shipping works with Shipping Profiles here.

Locations in Shopify let merchants set multiple shipping origins. However, we generally recommend avoiding them with Intuitive Shipping, as they can cause rate issues like duplicates or missing rates.

With Intuitive Shipping, you can create locations with custom ship-from addresses.

Intuitive Shipping locations are used to ensure live carrier rates are calculated using the actual shipping origin address if it’s different from the default store address in your eCommerce platform’s account settings.

We cannot see inventory levels, and if you’re using Shopify, we have no visibility of Shopify Locations.

Absolutely. One of our amazing team members can guide you through Intuitive Shipping. Schedule your one-on-one demo appointment here!

You bet! If you have questions or concerns about setting up Intuitive Shipping, contact our team. We’re here to help, no matter the issue.

We offer complimentary onboarding sessions, too! Our onboarding specialists will walk you through the setup process and get you up and running as quickly as possible. You can book an onboarding session from the Get Started or Support pages in the app.

If you don’t have the time or confidence to configure Intuitive Shipping yourself, ask us about our configuration service. We’ll set it up for you!

Check out the Support FAQs below for more information.

Intuitive Shipping works with all Shopify subscription plans, but there are some limitations.

Shopify requires the third-party carrier-calculated shipping feature to display rates from external apps like Intuitive Shipping. Without it, rates can’t appear at checkout, even in Sandbox mode.

If you’re on the ‘Lite’, ‘Starter’ or ‘Basic’ plan, this feature is no longer available as a paid add-on as of Jan. 1, 2023. To access it, you’ll need to upgrade to the ‘Grow’ plan. If the feature was enabled before that date, it is grandfathered in and will continue to work.

On the ‘Grow’ plan, you can add this feature for $20 USD per month. If you switch to annual billing, it is included at no extra cost, and you’ll get a 10% discount on the plan.

To activate the feature, contact Shopify support.

Learn more about Shopify’s carrier-calculated shipping feature here.

Intuitive Shipping works with all BigCommerce subscription plans.

While there are a few minor differences between platforms - mainly to do with condition types - Intuitive Shipping’s features and functionality are nearly identical whether you’re using Shopify or BigCommerce.

Automated migration of your Intuitive Shipping configuration from one eCommerce platform to another is currently not supported. If your setup is complex and you plan to move from one platform to another, please contact us to discuss options.

Most quick pay or express checkout services are compatible with Intuitive Shipping, though there are some limitations:

Apple Pay

• Customer tags are not passed, so any tag-based conditions will be ignored.

• Only the postal or ZIP code is shared for the customer’s address.

• PO box conditions are ignored.

• Zapiet Store Pickup + Delivery info is not passed.

• If using UPS parcel services, please contact us for support.

Google Pay

• Same limitations as Apple Pay. 

PayPal

• Typically passes customer tags, so tag-based conditions usually work.

• Uses full customer address.

• Zapiet Store Pickup + Delivery info is not passed.

Shop Pay

• Customer tags are not passed.

• Uses full customer address.

• Zapiet info is excluded.

Quick pay limitations mostly relate to customer data. Product and cart conditions are not affected.

Yes! However, Merchant Center can’t connect to Intuitive Shipping, so you’ll need to add your shipping costs to Merchant Center manually or use a third-party management solution.

Note: Google requires shipping rates in Merchant Center to match or be lower than the rates on your website. If Merchant Center rates are higher, your products may be flagged as non-compliant. Learn how to stay compliant with Google Merchant Center here.

Some subscription apps work with Intuitive Shipping, but changes to how Shopify handles subscriptions can affect rate accuracy. Shopify sends separate carts for subscription and purchase prices at checkout, which can result in doubled shipping costs.

Yep! If you can't ship to PO boxes, or you offer carrier services that restrict PO box shipping, you can use a PO Box condition to prevent customers with a PO box in their address from completing their checkout. Learn how to prevent shipping to PO boxes here

Using postal codes or zip codes manage shipping to regional areas is one of the most common ways Intuitive Shipping is used. Learn how to create a postal code or zip code sub-zone here.

Splitting a shipment across multiple shipping methods or sending items to more than one destination isn’t currently supported by Shopify or BigCommerce, and by extension, is not supported by Intuitive Shipping.

You can quickly set up a basic free shipping method, or take full control by creating a free shipping Scenario with conditions that determine when free shipping is offered or restricted based on specific criteria.

Yes! If you charge handling fees or want to apply markups to your shipping costs, you can add them directly to the shipping method. These adjustments are included in the final shipping cost, which Intuitive Shipping displays as a single total - not itemized at checkout.

Learn how to add fees and adjust the final shipping cost here.

Intuitive Shipping doesn’t manage shipping tax calculations. For details on how taxes are handled in your eCommerce platform, reach out to their support team or check their help center.

Yes, but there are limitations. Shopify doesn’t pass discount details to Intuitive Shipping, so we only see the final cart total. If discounts are used with cart total conditions, rates may be inaccurate depending on when the discount is applied.

Discounts and promo codes are managed directly through Shopify.

Yes! Unlike promo or product discount codes that affect the cart total, Shopify’s free shipping digital coupons are applied directly to shipping methods. They override any shipping rates at checkout - including those from third-party apps like Intuitive Shipping - with free shipping.

If you sell products that always need special shipping rates - like promo merch that always ships free or bulky items with a fixed shipping cost - you can assign custom per-product rates directly to those items and blend them with your regular shipping rates.

Learn more about blending custom shipping costs here.

Yes! Intuitive Shipping lets you control how delivery days appear at checkout. For custom and local delivery rates, you can set your own delivery time for each shipping method. If you’re using real-time carrier rates, you can add order processing time or replace the carrier’s estimates with your own custom delivery times.

Yes, now you can! Intuitive Shipping now offers Delivery Date settings to show customers an estimated arrival date right at checkout. 

Please note: Delivery dates is a beta feature that must be enabled by our team. Please contact us if you are interested in enabling this feature.

Learn more about configuring delivery dates here.

Page and cart calculators (shipping estimators) work with Intuitive Shipping and pull rates automatically.

However, results may not always be accurate. If your rates depend on conditions like distance, postal/zip code, or customer tags such as ‘wholesale’ or ‘VIP member’, the rates shown before checkout may differ from the final rates.

When creating a draft order, rates from Intuitive Shipping are available to select if any applicable conditions from your Scenarios are met.

Yes! We want you and your customers to have a great sale experience. Flash Sales can impact the app’s performance. If we know about your sale in advance, it will help us prepare for any increased activity.

Learn more about preparing for Flash Sales here.

Intuitive Shipping connects to your store’s checkout through an API, so changing your store’s theme won’t affect your Intuitive Shipping settings or configuration - and Intuitive Shipping won’t impact your theme either.

Shopify and BigCommerce don’t send inventory information to Intuitive Shipping, and our system doesn’t work with dynamic data. That means conditions or rules based on stock levels or product availability aren’t supported.

Absolutely! You can install Intuitive Shipping on as many stores as you like. Since each store has its own unique shop identifier, Intuitive Shipping needs to be installed and managed separately for each one.

Automated migration or duplication of your Intuitive Shipping setup between stores isn’t currently supported. Since each store has a unique shop identifier - and products, shipping zones, and Shopify settings are store-specific - Intuitive Shipping must be set up and managed separately for each store.

Yep! Intuitive Shipping is fully optimized for mobile, so you can complete your setup or make changes to your settings whether you’re at the office, in the store, or on the go.

As a verified app on the your eCommerce platform’s app store, Intuitive Shipping is in full compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law.

Learn more here.

The Activity page displays shipping calculations from the past 14 days, including calculations for:

• Completed orders
• Abandoned carts after shipping was calculated
• Test checkouts

We keep activity records for 14 days, as that’s when they’re most likely to be needed. Keeping them longer for all users could slow down the app and increase plan costs. After 14 days, activities are automatically removed.

Click View on any Activity to see key details, including the shipping options displayed at checkout, the customer’s name and address, the date and time the calculation was completed, and for live carrier rates, the package sizes that were selected.

Our system doesn’t track which option the customer selects, as that happens after Intuitive Shipping completes its calculations. To see which shipping option the customer chose, check the order details in your eCommerce platform.

The Activity page only shows rates from Intuitive Shipping. If rates appear at checkout but not on this page, they’re coming from another source. Check your platform settings or other third-party services for additional rates.

Intuitive Shipping cannot override rates from other rate providers.

If you’re using Shopify, Intuitive Shipping works best with one Location and one General Shipping Profile. Multiple Locations, Profiles, or subscriptions can cause Shopify to split orders into sub-carts, each calculated separately. Customers see one combined rate, but you’ll see separate Activities for each sub-cart.

If multiple shipping methods have the same title, Shopify will only show one at checkout, usually the cheapest. If the cost is also identical, Shopify will display the one that was calculated first.

For example, if you label three different carrier methods as ‘Ground Shipping’, only one will appear at checkout. To avoid this, give each method a unique title or include the carrier name when offering multiple options.

If you’re using a shipping estimator that pulls rates from Intuitive Shipping to a product page or cart page, those calculations will appear on the Activity page with the customer name listed as Unknown.

Yep! You can export activities - either the entire list or a filtered list - in a JSON file. Only the listed activities from the past 14 days can be exported.

To export activities,  to the Activity page, then click Exportbelow the ‘Activity’ header.

If you’ve run several test checkouts and want to clear up your recent Activities, you can delete them individually. Click View on any Activity, then scroll to the bottom of the View Activity page and click the Delete button.

Deleting an Activity is permanent and cannot be undone.

A Scenario is a set of conditions that determines when shipping rates are displayed at checkout. 

To use Intuitive Shipping, you must create at least one Scenario, even if you don’t need specific conditions. That's because Shipping methods - which control can only be created from within a Scenario

Scenarios also let you apply product filters to control which products are included in rate calculations. By default, these filters match the Scenario’s conditions, but you can adjust them as needed.

The number of Scenarios you’ll need depends entirely on your shipping requirements. However, you'll need at least one to use Intuitive Shipping.

You can create as many Scenarios as needed. While there is technically no limit, having a significant number of Scenarios may affect performance. Having fewer Scenarios also allows you to keep your shipping more manageable.

Yes! If you want to add a Scenario that is similar to an existing one, you can simply create a copy, rename the copy and make adjustments as needed.

When you create a duplicate of a Scenario, the copy is not linked to the original, so you're free to make any necessary changes to the duplicate's settings.

Customers see rates from shipping methods on your store’s checkout page, but they can't see why rates are being displayed - meaning, they have no visibility of the conditions you're using to control the shipping methods.

Scenario titles are not visible to customers.

If you’ve been using multiple Profiles in Shopify, you can replicate that setup in Intuitive Shipping using Scenarios. They work similarly to Profiles but offer far more control and flexibility. Once your Scenarios are configured, you no longer need multiple Profiles, and all products should be moved into a single General Profile.

For best results, we highly recommend using only one General Shipping Profile with Intuitive Shipping.

Scenarios are listed alphabetically and cannot be manually rearranged. However, if you want Scenarios listed in a particular order, you can use prefixes in their names - like '1. Standard Shipping' - to force Scenarios to be sorted a certain way.

Conditions are rules that let you control when shipping rates are shown at checkout. This powerful feature gives you the flexibility to tailor shipping costs in many different ways.

Conditions are applied to Scenarios. Shipping methods assigned to a Scenario will only be available at checkout when the Scenario’s conditions (if any) are met.

Conditions are not required if you don’t have any rules or restrictions for your shipping setup. However, you still need to create a Scenario to use Intuitive Shipping, as this is where shipping methods are assigned and rates are calculated.

You can add as many conditions as needed to a Scenario. Just make sure they don’t conflict and can realistically be met.

For example, if you require all conditions to be true and add two separate SKU conditions (one for ‘SKU12’ and one for ‘SKU34’), both must be in the cart. To trigger the rate with either, combine them in one condition like this:

• ‘Product SKU equals SKU12, SKU34’.

Absolutely! Product conditions can be set up in a variety of ways. You can use product-identifying conditions like SKU, name, type, collection or category, and tag. You can also use product amount conditions such as quantity, price, weight, and volume.

If you’re using a product tag condition, the tag entered in the value field must already be assigned to products in your eCommece product settings. Intuitive Shipping checks for the tag during checkout but does not assign tags.

For example, if you add this product condition:

• Product tag equals 'fragile'

Any product that needs to meet this condition must already have the ‘fragile’ tag in your eCommerce product settings for the condition to be applied at checkout.

Cart conditions apply to the entire cart.

Filtered cart conditions apply to product filters - and sometimes to product conditions in the same Scenario. They’re helpful when you want to calculate rates based on combined values for specific products, regardless of what else is in the cart.

Delivery conditions control whether shipping methods in the Scenario are displayed at checkout based on the customer’s selected delivery preference and the settings from your delivery app, such as Store Pickup + Delivery by Zapiet or GiftShip.

Same day conditions control whether shipping methods are shown based on the current day, date, and time when Intuitive Shipping calculates rates at checkout.

Conditions are not case-sensitive. For example, if you want to limit rates to products with ‘Glass’ in the name, such as ‘Royal Wine Glass', you can set the value of your product name condition to contain either ‘Glass’ or ‘glass’.

Condition groups let you build a reusable set of related conditions that can be applied to any Scenario as if it were a single condition. They are created separately from Scenarios in another part of the app.

We generally recommend not using product conditions inside condition groups. Condition groups are processed differently than stand-alone product conditions, and product filters (in the ‘Optional Settings’ section of Scenarios) are typically set to ‘Match product conditions’.

When a product condition is inside a condition group, it isn’t treated as a product condition by the Scenario, so the product filtering is ignored.

Yes, you can. If using product conditions in condition groups is unavoidable - or it's much easier to set up - you will need to adjust your product filter settings in the Scenario by manually assigning product filters. Learn more here.

Product filters let you control which products are included in a shipping rate calculation. For example, if a custom service shipping method uses a rate table based on quantity and should only apply to products tagged ‘fragile’, a product filter ensures only those items are counted.

Without a product filter, all products in the cart are included in the calculation, even if they aren’t tagged ‘fragile’.

Conditions are the ‘when’. They control when a shipping method is shown at checkout.

Product filters are the ‘what’. They determine which products are included in the rate calculation.

Use product conditions to decide when a method appears. Use product filters to control what gets calculated.

If product filters aren’t used, all cart items are included in the rate calculation. This might be fine in some cases, but it often leads to unexpected results. Typically, when you’re restricting rates with product conditions, you want only those specific products factored into the rate.

Use manual filters to include only certain products, especially if your Scenario has no product conditions or if you need different filtering than the conditions.

Yes! If you don’t need to restrict shipping methods by product but want to exclude certain items from the rate calculation, use a product filter.

For example, in a Wholesale Scenario using a customer tag like ‘wholesale’ and a rate table based on cart total, you can exclude mattresses by setting a filter like ‘Tag does not equal mattress’.

This keeps mattresses out of the wholesale rate total without blocking them from checkout, letting you charge separately and then blend with the wholesale rate afterward.

Yes, but there are risks. We typically advise against using product conditions in condition groups. If you do, you will need to adjust the product filtering settings in the Scenario using your condition groups.

When you create a condition group, which is a collection of related conditions that can be applied to a Scenario as a single condition, you have the option to include product conditions. However, product conditions inside condition groups are ignored by product filtering. Once a condition group with product conditions is added to your Scenario, you'll need to change the product filter settings from 'Match product conditions' to 'Set product filters', then manually add the appropriate filter.

A shipping method controls how shipping costs are calculated at checkout. The most common shipping methods are:

• Custom service methods: free shipping, flat rates, per-unit rates, tiered rate tables
• Parcel service methods: real-time rates from carriers like UPS and FedEx.

Other shipping method types include:

• Local delivery, which uses a Google API key to measure distance
• Freight services, which work similarly to parcel services but use integrated freight partners
• Integrated services, which use APIs from our integration partners to calculate rates from your subscription-based service

At a minimum, you must assign at least one shipping method to every Scenario. You can add as many shipping methods as needed to each zone within each Scenario.

Yes! You can duplicate a shipping method within the same zone or to a different zone within the same Scenario, then make changes to the copy as needed.

Or, if you added the shipping method to the wrong zone by accident, you can easily move it from one zone to another within the same Scenario.

Copies are not linked to the original. Once a duplicate is created, the settings for the copy and the original are completely independent and unrelated.

Yep! While you can’t copy a shipping method directly from one Scenario to another, you can quickly duplicate an entire Scenario by clicking the 'Duplicate' button on the Edit Scenario screen. This creates an exact copy of the original Scenario, including all of its shipping methods. From there, you can make any changes you need.

Intuitive Shipping lets you fully customize your shipping method titles, whether you’re using flat rates or live carrier rates.

For parcel service or integrated service shipping methods with real-time carrier rates, we recommend using carrier-provided titles. If you enter a custom title and select multiple carrier services (like Priority Overnight, 2nd Day, and Ground), only the cheapest one will display using your custom title.

Tip: If you just want to show the lowest-cost option, you can enable that in the method settings without changing the title.

At checkout, shipping methods are sorted from lowest to highest cost. If multiple methods have the same price, they’re listed alphabetically. This is controlled by your eCommerce platform and can’t be changed in Intuitive Shipping.

In the app, shipping methods appear alphabetically in each Scenario. To adjust their order, add a prefix to the method title, like ‘1’, ‘a’, or ‘_’.

On Shopify, the default label for zero-cost shipping methods is ‘free’. If your zero-cost rate isn’t actually free shipping – like when customers need to call for a custom quote – you can change the Shopify label to something more accurate. Learn how here.

Absolutely! When setting up parcel service shipping methods, you can assign a custom location that is different from the default location synced with your eCommerce platform. Carrier rates will be calculated using the address of the custom location as the shipping origin.

If you’re setting up a custom service shipping method, you can use conditions to separate products by location. For example, product tag conditions or product vendor conditions can be used to restrict rates to certain products. Then, you can create a blended rate so the customer only pays a single shipping cost at checkout.

Intuitive Shipping locations are not associated with Shopify's Locations feature. Intuitive Shipping is intended to be used with just one Shopify Location. If you’re using Shopify’s multi-origin Locations feature, you may run into rate calculation errors like duplicated or missing rates.

Splitting a shipment into separate destinations is currently outside the scope of Intuitive Shipping’s functionality and not presently supported by Shopify or BigCommerce.

Splitting a shipment across multiple shipping methods - like sending part of an order by Ground and the rest by Overnight - isn’t currently supported by Intuitive Shipping, Shopify or BigCommerce.

Customers can choose from multiple shipping options at checkout, but only one can be selected per order.

As a workaround, you can add a custom description to your shipping method to let customers know their order may ship in separate packages using different services. You’ll still need to offer just one selectable method, but you’re free to fulfill the order however you choose.

Yes, you can set the minimum or maximum amount a customer can pay for shipping - even for real-time carrier rates! - for each shipping method using cost adjustments in the 'Optional Settings' section of any shipping method (excluding free shipping methods).

Intuitive Shipping does not store previously used rates. When you edit a rate in a shipping method and save your changes, the original rate is permanently overwritten.

If you think you may need to restore old rates in the future, consider duplicating the shipping method within the same zone. Set the duplicate method’s status to 'Off', then update the rate in the original version and leave its status set to 'On'.

When you need to revert to the old rate, simply turn off the current shipping method and turn on the older version.

Intuitive Shipping is a powerful and flexible shipping calculation app. Our portion of the customer journey ends on the checkout page.

Fulfillment and shipping labels are handled directly through your eCommerce platform or a third-party fulfillment app. If you already use a label printing or fulfillment service, you can continue using it alongside Intuitive Shipping without interruption.

Yep! You can add a soft package directly to a shipping method that uses packages (like a parcel service shipping method) or through the Packages management system. When adding the package, select ‘Soft package’ instead of ‘Box.

Soft packages use our unique system that automatically adjusts the package height based on the products being packed.

A ‘no shipping’ method lets you intentionally block shipping to a specific zone or subzone. For example, if you ship across the UK but want to exclude high-cost areas like the Scottish Highlands, you can create a subzone for that region and assign a ‘no shipping’ method to it in your Scenarios. Customers in the subzone won’t see any shipping options, while the rest of the UK still will.

Intuitive Shipping can calculate shipping rates using advanced custom formulas when you need a more sophisticated method of calculation. If you need to use advanced formulas, or want to find out if they'll work with your setup, please contact us. Our Technical Support team will be happy to explain more about custom formulas and how to access them.

A custom service shipping method lets you set up paid shipping options using either a single flat rate or a table of pre-set rates. You can also use custom service shipping methods to create a free shipping method

A parcel service shipping method lets you set up paid shipping options using real-time rates from one of our integrated carrier partners, in some cases, without needing an account to access carrier rates.

When you set up a parcel service shipping method and connect a carrier, the shipping costs displayed to your customers at checkout come directly from the carrier and are based on dimensional weight. 

Dimensional weight is a calculated value used by most carriers to determine live shipping rates. It factors in both the size (volume) and actual weight of a package to estimate its density. This helps account for differences such as a small, heavy box and a large, lightweight box, ensuring rates reflect how much space a package takes up during transit.

Always use the actual weight when setting up your carrier-based shipping methods (parcel service, freight service, integration service). Carriers calculate dimensional weight automatically using the real dimensions and weight provided by Intuitive Shipping during the rate calculation process.

Manually entering dimensional weight is not recommended, as it can lead to oversize fees or delivery restrictions.

Intuitive Shipping offers several packing methods to give you flexibility and accuracy when calculating shipping rates. Each method determines how items are grouped into packages at checkout.

SmartBoxing - uses the actual dimensional volume and weight of products to determine the most efficient combination of packages for an order - ideal if you have many products with varying sizes.

PortionPack - uses a portion of the product weight to select the most suitable packages. It's suited for those who sell products in bulk or portions, such as raw meat. 

Weight-based - uses total product weight to select the most suitable packages. It’s a good fit if your products are similarly sized and weight is the primary limiting factor.

Quantity-based - uses the number of items in the cart. This works well for similarly sized products where quantity is the main factor. 

Volume-based - uses dimensional volume (length × width × height) to determine which packages are needed. It’s useful when product size is more important than weight or quantity.

Points-based - uses arbitrary numerical values (points) to determine suitable packages. It's useful when smaller items can be packed within larger ones. You assign a point value to each product to represent how much space it occupies.

Package Separately is an additional setting that, when enabled, prevents a product from being packed with the rest of the order. Instead, Intuitive Shipping will create a custom package size using the product's shipping dimensions. This setting overrides all packing algorithms.

Both PortionPack and weight-based packing algorithms consider the combined weight of the products being ordered. PortionPack allows you to sell items in bulk or 'portions', such as raw meat, whereas weight-based considers the weight as a whole.

Let's say you only use one package for every order and that package has a maximum weight of 25 lbs. If a customer orders 40 lbs worth of product:

• PortionPack - the order will be packed in 2 packages - one with 25 lbs, one with 15 lbs.
• Weight-based - the order will fail at checkout because the only available package cannot hold the entire weight of the order. An additional package capable of holding up to 40 lbs would be required.

Although Intuitive Shipping isn’t part of the fulfillment process, we do send packing details for carrier-calculated rates to your eCommerce platform’s order. This can include box dimensions, weights, product names, quantities, and service codes (if available). Service codes go to your fulfillment service, not the order itself.

By default, this information is added to the order details. You can choose to send it to the order notes instead and decide whether to include package contents. You can also disable this feature entirely in ‘Packaging Results’ under General Settings.

To view the info, open a completed order and check the details or notes in the top-right corner, depending on your settings.

Note: Packing info only appears after a purchase is completed. It’s not available for test calculations, abandoned carts, or during Sandbox mode—but you can see it for those in the Activity page.

We currently provide rates from these carriers:

• Australia Post
• Australia Post Retail/Retail Letter
• Canada Post
• Canpar
• DHL eCommerce
• DHL Express
• FedEx
• FedEx Freight LTL
• Purolator
• United States Postal Service (USPS)
• UPS

We offer integrated services with:

• ShipStation
• Starshipit
• Easyship

If your preferred carrier or integrated service isn’t listed, let us know! We’ll add them to our wish list. 

Generally, no, you don’t. Most carriers provide access to standard retail rates, so you don’t need an account to set up a shipping method with carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, or Canada Post.

When setting up a parcel service shipping method, you’ll be able to select Standard retail rates if the carrier offers that option. If you don’t see it, that means the carrier requires an account to access their rates.

Some carriers, such as Purolator and FedEx Freight LTL, do require account credentials. The same applies to third-party services like ShipStation, Starshipit and Easyship.

If you want to offer discounted shipping rates to your customers, we recommend setting up an account with your preferred carrier if possible.

There are two ways to add and store carrier account credentials in Intuitive Shipping:

• In the ‘Carrier accounts’ settings

• Directly within a shipping method

If you add an account through a shipping method, it’s automatically saved to your Carrier accounts settings for future use.

Only valid carriers for that shipping method type will be shown. For example, if you’re setting up a local delivery method based on distance, you’ll only see the Google API option. If you’re setting up a FedEx LTL freight method, only FedEx Freight LTL credentials will be available.

Integration services: If you’re using ShipStation, connect your account first under ‘Partner Integrations’ in the Settings menu.

Nope! Once you enter a carrier account, either in Carrier account settings or while creating a shipping method, the account is saved and can be reused any time you set up another shipping method for the same carrier.

Yes! You can connect multiple accounts from the same carrier to Intuitive Shipping. When setting up a parcel service shipping method, just choose which account to use.

Each shipping method can only use one account, so you’ll need to create separate methods for each account.

Parcel service, freight service, and integration service shipping methods are carrier-based, meaning each shipping method can only have one carrier and one account assigned. However, you can create as many shipping methods as you need within each Scenario.

Shopify provides discounted rates with many carriers, but they don’t share their carrier account credentials with third-party apps like Intuitive Shipping. That means we can’t access Shopify’s discounts directly.

You can still use those discounts at fulfillment, and simulate them at checkout by applying cost adjustments in your parcel service shipping method.

FedEx SmartPost - now called 'FedEx Ground Economy' - is not currently supported by Intuitive Shipping. This option may be added in the future.

FedEx One Rate is not currently supported by Intuitive Shipping. If you are using FedEx One Rate, please contact us for alternative configurations.

Hold At Location is not currently supported by Intuitive Shipping.

If you have a ShipStation account with rates from Stamps.com, you can access Stamps rates through ShipStation.

UPS now uses a new credential format called OAuth 2.0, which replaces the older User ID and XML Access Key with a Client ID and Client Secret. New UPS accounts must use this updated format.

If you have a legacy UPS account with an XML key, you can still connect it for now. However, once UPS ends support for XML keys, legacy credentials will no longer work with Intuitive Shipping.

When setting up a parcel service shipping method, choose either ‘UPS OAuth’ (new format) or ‘UPS Legacy’ (old format). OAuth requires a Client ID, Client Secret, and account number. Legacy requires a User ID, Password, XML Key, and account number.

Learn more about connecting both OAuth 2.0 and legacy UPS accounts here.

Yes, Intuitive Shipping currently offers support for both UPS Legacy credentials (XML access keys) and OAuth 2.0 credentials (Client ID, Client Secret). 

UPS announced that as of June 3, 2024, they would stop supporting legacy accounts using XML access keys. As of June 3, 2025, legacy credentials still work, but support may end at any time. To avoid disruptions, we strongly recommend updating your UPS account to the new format.

If you haven't migrated to the new OAuth 2.0 credential format, you may experience rate calculation errors with UPS shipping methods using legacy credentials. We strongly encourage you to migrate your account at your earliest opportunity.

Please leave the Callback URL blank. It is not required for Intuitive Shipping.

At this time, Intuitive Shipping supports integration with FedEx Freight LTL. To connect your account, choose ‘Freight Services’ when setting up a shipping method in a Scenario.

More freight carrier integrations may be added later.

If your freight carrier has supplied a rate table, you can manually enter their rates using a custom service shipping method.

If you’re using parcel service shipping methods, the Fallback rate is a backup shipping cost that activates only when the carrier times out—such as during high-traffic events like Black Friday or brief service outages.

It won’t activate if rates fail for other reasons, like:

• Oversized package dimensions

• Too many packages

• Missing product weights

• No available delivery services in the customer’s area (postal code)

In these cases, the cart will fail at checkout. Learn more about checkout errors in the Troubleshooting section of the FAQ.

When setting up parcel service shipping methods, you can use carrier-provided delivery estimates or set a custom time frame like ‘3 to 5 business days’.

If using carrier estimates, you can add order processing days to extend the delivery window. These are not shown separately to customers but are included in the overall estimate.

To manage expectations, consider adding a custom description to your shipping method, noting that delivery times include processing. You may also want to clarify that carrier estimates are not guaranteed, either in the description or on your shipping info page.

If you choose to display carrier delivery times but the carrier does not provide them, no delivery estimate will be shown to your customer.

SmartBoxing is an advanced packing algorithm that finds the most efficient way to pack each order using product dimensions and weight—helping lower shipping costs and reduce packaging waste.

To use it:

• Create a parcel service shipping method and choose SmartBoxing in the Packages section.
• Ensure all package sizes are accurate.
• Add both dimensions and weight to every product using SmartBoxing.

 For Shopify, dimensions must be entered in Intuitive Shipping. For BigCommerce, you can add dimensions in your product settings or in Intuitive Shipping.

Product weight can be stored in either platform or in the app.

Once everything’s set, SmartBoxing will do the rest!

Yes, to use the SmartBoxing packing algorithm, or the volume-based algorithm, your products must have dimensions assigned to them. You can assign shipping dimensions in your product settings.

Yes, to use the SmartBoxing packing algorithm, you need to enter your fulfillment box dimensions into Intuitive Shipping. Once your packages are added, either in your main Packages settings or directly within a parcel service shipping method, they are saved and can be reused when setting up other shipping methods.

At its core, Intuitive Shipping is a calculator - a really advanced calculator! Like any calculator, it needs input to perform a calculation. SmartBoxing uses product and package dimensions to determine the most efficient way to pack an order. If product dimensions or box sizes aren’t provided, Intuitive Shipping can’t complete the calculation.

If you’re using Shopify, you must add shipping dimensions to your products in Intuitive Shipping for SmartBoxing to work. Since Shopify doesn’t have dedicated fields for length, width, and height, dimensions can’t be pulled automatically the way product weights can. To make setup easier, you can bulk edit product dimensions using a CSV file by following the instructions provided in the 'Update Product Settings' guide. Products must have a weight - either in Shopify or Intuitive Shipping.

If you’re using BigCommerce, you can add product dimensions and weight directly to Intuitive Shipping or use the physical attributes saved in your BigCommerce product settings.

If certain products don’t need SmartBoxing for packing, you can exclude them from SmartBoxing and route them through a different shipping method that uses another packing algorithm.

There is! Intuitive Shipping provides default product settings. If a product is missing key attributes - like shipping dimensions or weight - default values will be applied automatically, ensuring the customer can still complete their checkout. Learn more about default product settings here.

You can use the SmartBoxing packing algorithm for suppliers who provide product dimensions, and a different packing algorithm for those who don’t. To do this, create two separate Scenarios - one for vendors using SmartBoxing and another for vendors that require a different packing method. 

For SmartBoxing, we recommend entering both inner and outer dimensions when adding packages.

Outer dimensions are required, as they are used by the carrier to calculate shipping rates. Inner dimensions are optional but help SmartBoxing determine the best fit during packing, especially if there's a tangible difference between outer and inner dimensions.

The SmartBoxing packing system is currently available only for shipping methods that require packages and use calculate carrier rates. Its main benefit is optimizing packaging to ensure accurate dimensional shipping when using real-time carrier rates.

Intuitive Shipping zones allow you to control the geographical areas where products can be shipped, preventing customers outside your shipping borders from completing their checkout. Different shipping methods and rates can be created for each zone. 

If you’ve used shipping zones in Shopify or BigCommerce, Intuitive Shipping zones will be familiar, but with added flexibility. The best part is you can manage your zones directly from the app, eliminating the need to adjust settings in your eCommerce platform or worry about syncing updates.

If you’ve already set up shipping zones in your eCommerce platform, you can import them into Intuitive Shipping to save time. Just click ‘Import’ on the Zones list page to copy your platform’s zone setup.

After importing, you can edit your Intuitive Shipping zones at any time without changing your platform’s original zone settings.

When creating a shipping method within a Scenario, one of the first steps is to assign it to a zone. That means you’ll need at least one custom zone before you can begin setting up shipping methods. However, it’s not necessary to assign a shipping method to every zone. Only customers located within the assigned zone will see the rates from that shipping method.

Each shipping method includes a ‘Duplicate’ feature that lets you create an exact copy of the original. You can assign the duplicate to the same zone or move it to a different one. Either way, you’re free to edit the settings in the copy without affecting the original.

You can add a zone by following the steps in this guide. Learn how to delete a zone here.

Yes, but you may need to update your eCommerce platform settings first.

Your platform’s shipping zones control which rate providers can return rates. Intuitive Shipping must be assigned as a rate provider to each platform zone where you want to show rates.

If a country or region is missing from your platform zones, rates won’t appear at checkout for that location, even if it’s set up in Intuitive Shipping. For example, if your platform zones only include the US, Canada, and Mexico, customers in the UK won’t see rates until the UK is added to your platform zones. After that, your Intuitive Shipping UK zone will work.

Be sure to re-sync with Intuitive Shipping after making changes.

Tip: To reduce future syncing, consider creating a platform zone that includes all current and future countries. Then control availability from within Intuitive Shipping. Unsupported countries still won’t see rates unless they’re added to your Intuitive Shipping zones.

When you attempt to delete a zone that is currently being used by one or more shipping methods, a warning message will appear letting you know. You’ll still have the option to proceed with the deletion or cancel and keep the zone. Keep in mind that deleting zones is permanent. However, you can create a new version of the deleted zone if you decide to use it again in the future.

Deleting a zone in Intuitive Shipping does not affect the shipping zone settings in your eCommerce platform. 

When you first start using Intuitive Shipping, all countries and regions are assigned to a default zone called ‘Rest of world’. This zone can’t be edited manually.

When you create a custom zone, the selected countries or regions are automatically removed from ‘Rest of world’. If you delete that custom zone later, its countries or regions are returned to ‘Rest of world’.

While you can use Intuitive Shipping with just the default zone, we don’t recommend it, as it may allow customers from unsupported regions to check out. At minimum, create a custom zone for your own country or region.

Nope! 'Rest of World' works just like any of your custom zones, except you can’t edit it manually. If you assign a shipping method to 'Rest of World', rates will be shown to customers who live in the countries or regions included in that zone - in other ones, any countries that haven't been added to your custom zones. If you don’t assign a shipping method to 'Rest of World', those customers won’t see any shipping rates at checkout.

If the shipping methods are not part of a blended rate, only one will appear at checkout. The duplicate will be cancelled out.

If the shipping methods are part of a blended rate, their costs will be combined. For example, if you have two shipping methods: Method A at $10.00 and Method B at $15.00, and you create an exact duplicate of Method B with the same $15.00 rate, the total blended rate shown to the customer will be $40.00 ($10.00 + $15.00 + $15.00), not $25.00.

If two shipping methods in the same zone have the exact same title, such as ‘FedEx Ground’, but different costs (for example, one includes a $5.00 markup), only the cheaper option will appear at checkout.

If two shipping methods in the same zone have the same title and the same final cost, but other settings are different, only the original shipping method listed first in the Scenario will appear at checkout.

We don’t recommend deleting your eCommerce platform’s shipping zones. Intuitive Shipping zones are completely independent of your platform’s zones, so once you’re using our system, your platform’s zone setup becomes irrelevant for rate calculations.

However, your eCommerce platform still uses its zones to assign rate providers like Intuitive Shipping. That means:

• You can leave your existing platform zones as-is, or group all shipping regions into one master zone.

• Every country or region you want to ship to must be included in at least one platform shipping zone, and that zone must have Intuitive Shipping added as a rate provider.

If you delete all eCommece platform shipping zones, Intuitive Shipping won’t be able to connect. And if a country isn’t in any zone with Intuitive Shipping assigned, no rates will appear at checkout for that country.

Intuitive Shipping subzones give you more control over where products can be shipped. Use them to offer premium rates to rural or remote customers, block shipping to costly or unsupported areas, or run location-based promotions using postal or ZIP codes.

Subzones are created within a parent zone, and their postal codes must match the countries or regions in that zone. For example, if your parent zone includes only California, the subzone must use ZIP codes from California. ZIP codes from outside the parent zone, like Nevada, won’t work unless that region is also added to the parent zone.

Each country or region can only be in one parent zone, but postal codes can appear in multiple subzones if needed.

Within each parent zone, you can create subzones based on postal codes or ZIP codes. You can assign individual postal codes - either full-format or prefixes - or use ranges, separated by a : (colon symbol).

• Example: P0A:P9N

All postal codes from P0A 0A1 to P9N 3W8 are included in the range.

Unlike parent zones, which can be imported from your eCommerce platform settings, subzones must be configured manually, and only if required.

No, unlike parent zones, which require at least one to be created, subzones are completely optional. You only need to set them up if you want to control your shipping based on postal codes or ZIP codes.

You can create as many subzones as needed, and unlike parent zones, subzones can overlap. That means the same postal codes can be included in multiple subzones.

Yes! Subzones can overlap. That means the same postal codes can be included in multiple subzones. This is useful if some of your local shipping methods apply to just one area while other shipping methods cover multiple areas.

There’s no limit to the number of postal codes you can add to a subzone.

If your subzone includes many postal codes, we recommend using ranges or abbreviations (prefixs) when possible instead of listing each full-format postal code individually.

Nope! You can use postal code ranges to cover a large number of ZIP or postal codes. For example, ‘10012:10025’ includes every ZIP code between those values.

For Canadian and UK codes, use prefixes when applicable. ‘M5B’ covers all Canadian postal codes starting with M5B, and ‘EH1’ includes all UK postcodes starting with EH1.

You can use prefixes for UK postcodes in subzones. For example, adding ‘EH1’ includes all postcodes that begin with EH1. Intuitive Shipping can tell the difference between similar prefixes like ‘EH1’ and ‘EH10’, and both can be included in the same sub-zone.

Be sure to select the UK formatting setting when using UK postcodes.

They are not. Regardless of your keyboard settings, postal codes will always be entered in all caps.

Subzones require postal or ZIP codes, but there are other ways to localize shipping.

You can use Customer conditions, like a city condition to restrict shipping to specific cities, or a delivery distance condition to limit shipping within a certain radius.

You can also create a local delivery shipping method that uses distance to calculate rates. Customers outside the set distance won’t see rates at checkout.

Yes! Learn how to connect your ShipStation account here.

Important: You must be on ShipStation’s New Layout version. The integration cannot be completed with their legacy version.

Our ShipStation integration is available to all Intuitive Shipping users, no matter which billing plan you’re on. You can even connect to ShipStation while in Sandbox mode to test the connection before activating a billing plan.

Yes, to access live rates from ShipStation, you’ll need an active ShipStation account and must be using ShipStation’s New Layout version. You can start your free trial with ShipStation here.

While using ShipStation, check the URL in your browser. If you’re on the New Layout version, the URL will include the word ‘ship’ followed by a number (usually two digits), such as ‘ship11’.

While using ShipStation, click the ‘Try new layout’ button at the top of the screen. For more information about the New Layout version, contact ShipStation directly.

Nope! To connect your ShipStation account:

• Click Settings on the Intuitive Shipping main menu, then select Partner Integrations.
• Click Enable integration on the ShipStation card.
• When prompted, enter your ShipStation account username and password, then accept the permission request to allow us access to your account.

ShipStation lets you connect your own carrier accounts or use their pre-negotiated rates. You can manage all your carriers from one central location. To learn more, visit ShipStation.

You can connect your ShipStation account to Intuitive Shipping through the ‘Partner Integrations’ settings. Once connected, you can create shipping methods that use rates from ShipStation. Most carriers and services in your ShipStation account will sync automatically.

Available services depend on the carriers you’ve added. Some may not be supported by Intuitive Shipping.

When an order is completed, Intuitive Shipping sends package dimensions to ShipStation to help with label setup.

When using a standard parcel service shipping method with Shopify, Intuitive Shipping sends packing details from the selected delivery option to the order notes or details, depending on your settings. (Note: this feature is not supported by BigCommerce.)

If you’re connected to ShipStation and using rates from your ShipStation account, Intuitive Shipping sends the packing information directly to ShipStation. There, you can review the customer’s selected shipping method and manually set up the shipping label.

At this time, Intuitive Shipping supports one ShipStation account per store.

If you have multiple stores, each with a separate Intuitive Shipping installation, you can connect a different ShipStation account to each one.

A multi-store setup means each store has its own unique store ID and domain (e.g. ‘storename.myshopify.com’), and Intuitive Shipping is installed independently on each store.

You can only connect your ShipStation account to one store at a time. If you have multiple store domains in your eCommerce platform, only one can be linked to a single ShipStation account. Trying to connect the same account to more than one store can cause conflicts and may result in one or both stores being permanently disconnected from ShipStation.

Yep! Once ShipStation is connected to Intuitive Shipping, you can create as many ShipStation shipping methods as needed. This is helpful if you want to offer different carrier services for specific zones or assign them to different Scenarios.

You can! Once ShipStation is connected, its integration service shipping method functions much like a parcel service shipping method, with nearly identical settings for display options, packages, locations, and cost adjustments.

You can set up multiple shipping methods using any combination of carriers and calculation types. There’s no limit to how many shipping methods you can add to your Scenarios.

Yes! To add more carriers to ShipStation, sign in to your ShipStation account and update your carrier settings there. After making changes, be sure to update your carrier services in Intuitive Shipping through the Partner integrations settings page.

Please note: carrier account changes must be made in ShipStation and cannot be managed directly through Intuitive Shipping.

Absolutely! If you no longer need ShipStation connected to Intuitive Shipping, just go to the Partner integrations page and click the ‘Disable integration’ button in the ShipStation section. 

Check out the Troubleshooting section of the FAQ for ways to diagnose issues with ShipStation.

If you need to charge more than one rate and want those rates combined into a single shipping cost at checkout, you can enable rate blending. With rate blending, you can easily merge shipping costs from multiple shipping methods across different Scenarios or even within the same Scenario, regardless of the type of shipping methods you're using.

If a customer’s order activates multiple Scenarios, a blended rate combines the shipping costs into one option at checkout. Without a blended rate, each shipping cost is displayed separately, and the customer can choose just one - usually the cheapest - potentially costing you money.

For example, let's say Vendor A charges $10 and Vendor B charges $5:

• Without rate blending enabled, the customer will have the option to pay $5 or $10 - either way, you're losing money
• With a blended rate, the customer pays the full $15 total.

Simple blending lets you quickly and easily configure a single blending setup with your preferred blending mode option, such as:

• Adding costs together
• Displaying the average cost or only the most or least expensive
• Displaying only the fastest or slowest delivery method

Advanced blending gives you greater control:

• Does everything that simple blending does
• Let's you create multiple blending rules for different situations
• Gives you the option to override shipping method titles, descriptions and delivery times when blending is activated

Absolutely! Blended rates can be configured in different ways:

• Offer either the cheapest or most expensive rate
• Show the fastest, slowest, or best value option - based on both cost and delivery time.
• Customize blended rate titles, descriptions, delivery times, and service codes (advanced blending only)

With advanced blending enabled, you can set up custom titles, descriptions, delivery times and service codes that override those from the individual shipping methods, only when rate blending is activated.

Simple blending using a single blending rule. When you switch to advanced blending, you can create multiple blending rules, and each rule can be fully customized.

By default, all shipping methods with rate blending enabled must receive a cost. If just one of the shipping methods doesn't return a cost, the entired blended rate will fail.

With advanced blending, you have the option to allow rates to be partially calculated even if one or more of the shipping methods don't return a cost.

Syncing your products with Intuitive Shipping is part of the onboarding process when you first install the app.

While in Sandbox mode, remember to manually re-sync your eCommerce platform connection with Intuitive Shipping any time you add or update products. After activating a billing plan, syncing will happen automatically whenever you change product settings in Shopify or BigCommerce.

While you’re in Sandbox mode, you need to manually re-sync your eCommerce platform connection each time you add, remove, or update a product in Shopify.

After selecting a billing plan and activating your account, product changes will sync automatically. However, if you make a large number of changes at once, we recommend doing a manual re-sync.

You can sync your product catalog changes from the Shopify connection page in the app.

If you’re using custom service shipping methods with predetermined shipping costs, dimensions are only necessary in certain situations:

• Your Scenarios use with dimensional volume-based conditions
• Your shipping methods use dimensional volume-based rate types

If you’re using parcel service, freight service, or integration service shipping methods that calculate real-time carrier rates, product dimensions are required if you’re using the volume-based or SmartBoxing packing algorithms, or if you want to limit how products are packed based on size when using other algorithms like weight-based or quantity-based packing.

Shopify does not currently offer fields for product length, width, or height. If you’re using Shopify and plan to use conditions, rate types, or packing algorithms that require dimensions or volume, you’ll need to enter product dimensions to Intuitive Shipping.

BigCommerce includes product fields for length, width, and height. If you’re using BigCommerce with dimension or volume-based settings, shipping dimension values in Intuitive Shipping will override the dimensions in BigCommerce.

If you’re using custom service shipping methods with predetermined shipping costs, weights are only necessary in certain situations:

• Your Scenarios use with weight-based conditions
• Your shipping methods use weight-based rate types

If you’re using parcel service, freight service, or integration service shipping methods that calculate real-time carrier rates, product weight is required for accurate rate calculations.

Both Shopify and BigCommerce let you store product weights in their systems. However, if you enter product weights in Intuitive Shipping, they will override the weights from your eCommerce platform. This means if there’s a difference between the two, Intuitive Shipping will use the weight value from our system instead of the one saved in your eCommerce platform.

Yep! Each product in Intuitive Shipping has a ‘package separately’ setting. When enabled, our system creates a custom package using the product’s assigned shipping dimensions.

This setting applies to shipping methods that require packages and calculate real-time carrier rates and it overrides every packing algorithm.

If you’re using a shipping method that doesn't require packages or calculate carrier rates in real time, the ‘package separately’ setting isn’t needed and will be ignored.

When setting up a custom service or parcel service shipping method, you can enable free shipping based on specific thresholds, such as order value, weight, or quantity.

If a product has the ‘Exclude from Free Shipping’ setting enabled in its Product settings, it will be excluded from free shipping and treated as though free shipping isn’t active.

Important: this setting does not apply to zero-cost rate rows in rate tables for custom service shipping methods.

When the ‘Qualifies for free shipping’ setting is enabled, the product will be eligible for free shipping at checkout, whether through a dedicated free shipping method or a free shipping threshold applied to a paid method. This is the default setting for all products.

The ‘Always ships for free’ setting ensures the product won’t contribute to the shipping cost. 

If you’re using SmartBoxing, the dimensions of products marked as ‘Always ships for free’ will still be used to calculate total package volume.

Absolutely! If your product has variants, each one can be set up differently if needed.

Variants can either use the primary product’s settings or have their own unique settings. You can mix and match - some variants can inherit the primary settings, while others use custom ones. It’s entirely up to you!

If you have a product that always costs the same to ship - like promo t-shirts that ship for $3.00 or bags of gravel that cost $75.00 - you can set a custom shipping price for that product in the Product shipping settings. When the product is ordered with others, its custom shipping cost can be blended with your other shipping rates.

Yes, you can! Each product - and each variant, if needed - has a ‘Do not ship to region’ setting. When this is enabled, customers in that zone won’t be able to check out until the restricted item is removed from their cart.

‘Do not ship’ settings apply to parent zones only. There isn’t currently an option to restrict products from subzones within the product settings. If certain products can’t ship to specific subzones, you’ll need to assign a ‘No shipping’ method to those subzones in the relevant Scenarios.

Learn more about setting up no shipping options for subzones here.

If you’re regularly adding new products, it can be challenging to keep physical attributes up to date. This can cause issues if your Scenarios or shipping methods depend on that information - missing details may lead to rate calculation failures and prevent customers from checking out.

To help manage this, Intuitive Shipping provides default product settings. If a product is missing key attributes, default values will be applied automatically - ensuring the customer can still complete their checkout. Learn more about default product settings here.

Yes, it is required to use Intuitive Shipping. The carrier-calculated shipping rates feature is a Shopify requirement to use any third-party shipping calculation app, including Intuitive Shipping.

This Shopify feature is not required to set up Intuitive Shipping, but is required to calculate rates, even while testing in Sandbox mode.

Shopify requires the carrier-calculated shipping rates feature to be enabled for any third-party rate provider to access the checkout. Since Intuitive Shipping is a third-party rate provider, this feature must be enabled for the app to work properly, even if you’re not using live rates from parcel service shipping methods.

While it isn’t needed for setup, we still require access to your checkout page when you're testing Scenarios and shipping methods. That means the carrier-calculated shipping rates feature must be enabled, even during testing. Without it, rates can’t be displayed at checkout.

Advanced/ Plus plans: third-party carrier-calculated shipping rates is included and enabled. No further action is required to use this feature with Intuitive Shipping.

Grow plan (formerly ‘Shopify plan’): if you're on this plan or planning to upgrade, you can add third-party carrier-calculated rates for $20 USD per month (you must contact Shopify to activate the feature). Shopify includes it at no extra cost if you switch to annual billing, and you’ll also get a 10 percent discount on your Grow plan.

Lite/ Basic/ Starter plans: Shopify no longer offers the third-party carrier-calculated shipping rates feature as a paid add-on for these plans. If you had the feature enabled before January 1, 2023, you were grandfathered in and can continue using Intuitive Shipping. However, upgrading plans may remove this status. If you downgrade afterward, the feature could be lost and rates may stop appearing at checkout.

Click Settings in the Intuitive Shipping sidebar menu, then select General settings from the drop-down list.

If you want to stop Intuitive Shipping rates from appearing at checkout, you can change the app Status in General Settings.

By default, the status is set to 'On' when you activate a billing plan. If you need to test or troubleshoot and don’t want to disable each Scenario individually, switch the general status to 'Test or 'Off'.

• Off: rates will not be calculated by Intuitive Shipping. This does not disable billing.
• Test: rates will be calculated by Intuitive Shipping, but will be displayed at checkout only when using ‘Intuitive’ on the checkout page.
• On: rates will be calculated by Intuitive Shipping. This is the default setting.

Note: Setting the status to 'Off' does not pause your account or billing. It just hides rates from checkout.

If you’re in Sandbox mode (no billing plan activated), shipping rates from Intuitive Shipping are hidden from customers regardless of how your Scenarios or shipping methods are configured. Rates will only appear if ‘Intuitive’ is entered as the customer’s first or last name, or in the optional address field on BigCommerce or Shopify B2B.

Once you activate a billing plan and the general Status is set to ‘On’, rates become visible to customers at checkout. To check or change the general status, go to ‘Settings’ in the sidebar menu, then click ‘General settings’.

If the general Status is ‘Off’, a banner will be displayed at the top of the General settings page, the Activity page, and other parts of the app.

Yes! During onboarding, you can choose your preferred units for dimensions, weight, and distance - like cm, kg, and km. You can update these anytime in the Units section of the General settings page.

Keep in mind that changing the unit type does not convert existing values in Intuitive Shipping. For example, if a Scenario has a weight condition of 100 lbs and you switch to kg, the condition will now read as 100 kg. You’ll need to manually convert the value to the correct equivalent.

This change won’t affect your eCommerce platform settings. If you use kg in Shopify or BigCommerce, it will still display as kg in your platform admin, even if you switch to lbs in Intuitive Shipping.

Rates calculated by Intuitive Shipping use your eCommerce platform's default currency and cannot be changed in the app. To update your currency, go to your platform admin settings.

After making changes, resync your platform connection settings with Intuitive Shipping from the Shopify/BigCommerce connection page.

Changing your currency does not convert existing values in Intuitive Shipping. For example, if a free shipping threshold is set to $75 CAD and you switch to USD, the threshold will now trigger at $75 USD. You’ll need to manually adjust the value if needed.

Delivery dates can be displayed instead of the number of days. This feature is currently in beta and can be enabled by request. Learn more here.

Yes, when enabled, delivery date settings apply universally. Any shipping method showing an estimated delivery time in days will instead show an estimated delivery date.

Simple blending lets you quickly and easily configure a single blending setup with your preferred blending mode option, such as:

• Adding costs together
• Displaying the average cost or only the most or least expensive
• Displaying only the fastest or slowest delivery method

Advanced blending gives you greater control, and lets you:

• Do everything that simple blending does
• Create multiple blending rules for different situations
• Override shipping method titles, descriptions and delivery times when blending is activated

Intuitive Shipping isn’t part of the fulfillment process, but we support your fulfillment team by providing packing information used in the shipping rate calculation. For shipping methods that use package dimensions—like parcel or freight services—packing results are included by default.

This info is sent to the Shopify order details after checkout. If your fulfillment service or app pulls data from order notes instead, you can switch the push location in General settings.

Custom service and free shipping methods don’t include packing details, since no packages are used.

Note: This feature is currenly only supported by Shopify.

Nope! By default, ‘push packing results to platform’ is turned on. If at any time you want to turn it off, just change the Packing results setting in your General settings.

Yes. By default, packing results are sent to the Shopify order details. If your fulfillment services needs the information in notes, you can change the save location.

By default, packing results also include cart contents – the product names on the order and the quantity of each product in each package.

If you don’t want this information included, you can change the setting to only push the package dimensions and weights.

Intuitive Shipping lets you set up alternative shipping origin locations to calculate live rates based on the actual shipping point, if it’s different from your primary eCommerce platform location. If some products ship from your main location and others from a different one, you can assign separate locations to each shipping method accordingly.

Locations are designed for use with parcel service, freight service or integration service shipping methods that calculate carrier rates in real time, and with local delivery methods that calculate rates based on distance. They are not used with custom service or free shipping methods.

Each applicable shipping method can be assigned one shipping origin location.

Locations are used to calculate live rates in parcel service, freight service and integration service shipping methods, or distance-based rates in local delivery shipping methods. Currently, locations can’t be assigned to custom or free shipping methods.

If you have multiple shipping locations with different products at each one, and you’re using flat rates or rate tables that don’t depend on distance, you can use product conditions - like product tag or vendor - to create different rates based on the ship-from location.

Locations are optional and only needed if you want to set up an alternative shipping origin. If no locations are set up in Intuitive Shipping, live rates will be calculated using your primary location in Shopify or BigCommerce.

Shopify’s multi-origin Locations feature lets you manage shipping, local delivery, and inventory from multiple locations. However, Intuitive Shipping does not have visibility of these locations and cannot access inventory levels.

We strongly recommend using a single Location in Shopify. If you need to set up custom shipping origin points, you can add them in Intuitive Shipping from the Location settings or directly within a shipping method that uses shipping origin locations to calculate rates.

Unfortunately, Intuitive Shipping has no visibility of your store inventory. Locations are only used to calculate real-time carrier rates or distance-based rates from an address other than your eCommerce platform's primary location.

Carrier accounts are generally optional. Some carriers let you use their standard retail rates without having an account.

If you do have an account with one of our integrated carrier partners, you can add it in your Carrier accounts settings. Then, when you create a parcel service shipping method, you can choose either your account or the carrier’s standard rates (if available).

Using a carrier account gives you access to discounted or negotiated rates based on your shipping volume.

Some carriers do, but not all. If you have an account with one of our integrated carrier partners or want to open one, you can connect it in the Carrier accounts settings or directly when creating a parcel service shipping method.

Carriers like Australia Post, Canpar, and Purolator require an account, as they don’t provide standard retail rates.

Absolutely! You can have accounts with all of our integrated carrier partners if you like, and you can even set up multiple accounts with the same carrier. Each time you create a parcel service shipping method, you’ll be able to choose which account you want to use for that carrier.

Note: only one carrier account can be assigned to a single shipping method.

Shopify doesn’t share their carrier account credentials with third-party developers, so we can’t access Shopify carrier discounts.

Carrier accounts in Intuitive Shipping are meant for account credentials managed by your business.

If you want to keep using Shopify’s carrier discounts, you can continue to access them at fulfillment. To simulate those discounts at checkout, set up a parcel service shipping method using standard retail rates, then apply a cost adjustment to reflect your discount. For example, if Shopify gives you 60% off UPS rates at fulfillment, apply a 60% discount in the Cost Adjustment settings.

Yes. Freight services require you to set up an account, as they do not offer standard retail rates. Without an account, you won’t be able to complete or save the freight service shipping method.

Additionally, freight services typically require that your billing address and shipping origin address match exactly, otherwise rates can fail at checkout.

Note: Intuitive Shipping currently only supports FedEx Freight LTL. Additional freight carrier support may be added in the future.

Our development team collaborates closely with our partners to create a direct API connection between our systems. If one of our partners is part of your shipping strategy, integrating with them makes it easy to pass key information between both platforms.

We currently offer direct integrations with:

• Zapiet Store Pickup + Delivery: Set up local pickup and delivery options, and let customers choose a date and time using Zapiet’s calendar. You can also use Zapiet to set blackout periods for shipping.

• ShipStation: Connect your ShipStation account to access your preferred carriers and rates. Intuitive Shipping will pass packing information directly to ShipStation when orders are placed.

• Zonos (beta): Collect duties and taxes at checkout with guaranteed landed cost calculations.

If you use Starshipit or Easy, you can add your account credentials when creating an integrated shipping method with either service.

Additional partner integrations may be introduced in the future.

Note: Zonos integration is currently in beta. Please contact us if you have a Zonos account and wish to participate in the beta.

Yes, you must have an active account with our partners in order to enable the integrations.

No problem! If you terminate your account with any of our integrated partners, or if you just don’t need the integration setup any longer, simply disable the integration at any time from the Partner integrations page.

If you're using Starshipit or Easyship, simply disable or delete the shipping method using your account and, if needed, remove your account credentials from your Carrier Account settings.

When you install Intuitive Shipping, we connect to your account so we can access your checkout and receive cart information. We sync key details from your store account, including your base currency, primary contact email, and default shipping origin.

We also sync your product catalog so we can detect product tags, collections, tags, and types at checkout. This lets you assign dimensions for packing algorithms like SmartBoxing, and customize product-specific shipping settings such as free shipping exclusions or regional restrictions.

Shop information must be re-synced whenever you make changes like updating your primary email, editing your store location, or switching currencies. This ensures Intuitive Shipping has the latest information from your platform's admin settings.

Once your account is activated, product catalog changes - such as adding or removing products or updating tags and collections - are synced automatically. If you make a large number of changes at once, we recommend manually re-syncing your product catalog.

While in Sandbox mode, all product catalog changes must be synced manually.

Notifications alert you to key events, like when product and package exports or imports are complete. You can download your export files directly from the Notifications section.

For urgent or time-sensitive issues, such as Shopify’s carrier-calculated shipping rates not being enabled, or Intuitive Shipping being set to ‘Off’, a banner will appear at the top of relevant pages.

We’ll display a number over the Bell icon at the top right of the Intuitive Shipping app header to indicate how many unread notifications are waiting. You may also receive an email at the primary contact email address, and if applicable, the secondary contact email address, alerting you that a notification is waiting.

Notifications cannot be deleted at this time.

Notifications don’t expire. If your notification includes a download link, the link will expire after 14 days.

When you first install the app, you automatically start in Sandbox mode. This lets you set up Scenarios, shipping methods, packages, zones and carriers, adjust product settings, and test everything to make sure your rates display correctly.

While in Sandbox, rates only appear at checkout when ‘Intuitive’ is used as either the first or last name during checkout - or the optional address field if you're using BigCommerce or Shopify B2B - even if the app status is set to 'On'. This ensures your customers don’t see test rates.

Sandbox mode is free and doesn’t expire - and it doesn't count towards your free trial! You can take as much time as you need to complete your setup and testing.

Yes! Sandbox mode is completely free with no time limit. Once your setup is complete and everything is working as expected, just activate your account by choosing a billing plan to start your free trial.

Nope! You can remain in Sandbox as long as you need. Your free trial won’t begin until you select a billing plan and activate your account.

You can test all of your Intuitive Shipping Scenarios without making them visible to customers by using ‘Intuitive’ as either the first or last name at checkout - or the optional address field if you're using BigCommerce or Shopify B2B.

Learn more about testing here.

When testing your Intuitive Shipping setup using ‘Intuitive’ as the customer’s first or last name, or in the optional address field if you’re using BigCommerce or Shopify B2B, you’ll see rates from both your platform and Intuitive Shipping. That’s expected. Only you will see the Intuitive Shipping rates during testing. Your customers will only see rates from Shopify or BigCommerce.

Intuitive Shipping cannot override other shipping rates. When you’re ready to go live, you’ll need to delete any platform shipping rates so they no longer appear at checkout.

This also applies if you’re using another app or service to calculate shipping rates.

Shopify and BigCommerce shipping rates, or rates from another third-party app or service, don’t affect Intuitive Shipping and can be removed at any time. If your store is live while you’re still using Intuitive Shipping in Sandbox mode, we recommend keeping your current public rates active until you’re ready to go live with Intuitive Shipping. Otherwise, customers won’t see any rates at checkout and won’t be able to complete their orders.

After setting up Intuitive Shipping, we strongly recommend running a few test checkouts to confirm that rates are being calculated correctly.

Shopify: Use ‘Intuitive’ as either the customer’s first or last name at checkout.

BigCommerce/ Shopify B2B: Enter ‘Intuitive’ in the optional address field for Apartment/Suite/Building.

This is the only way to view rates from Intuitive Shipping on your checkout page during testing. Learn more about testing your setups here.

Using ‘Intuitive’ as either the customer’s first or last name works only on Shopify (excluding Shopify B2B).

If you’re using Shopify, make sure the carrier-calculated shipping rates feature is enabled on your plan. While it’s not required for setup, it is needed to access your checkout page for testing. Learn more about carrier-calculated shipping rates here.

If you’re using BigCommerce or Shopify B2B, enter ‘Intuitive’ in the optional address field for Apartment/Suite/Building.

If you’re using Shopify, your checkout results are cached for a short time. If you’re testing a new setup and don’t see the updated rates at checkout, you may need to clear the Shopify cache. Learn how to do that here.

While you’re in Sandbox mode, you’ll see shipping rates from Intuitive Shipping along with rates from other sources like Shopify or BigCommerce.

This is expected behavior.

Intuitive Shipping can’t override rates from other rate providers - including your eCommerce platform or other third-party apps - so those rates will still appear at checkout. However, only you can see the Intuitive Shipping rates during testing.

We suggest keeping your existing rates in place until you’re ready to activate Intuitive Shipping. Once your account is live, remove your other rates to avoid confusion.

If shipping rates aren’t calculating or showing at checkout, it may be due to one of the following:

Carrier-calculated shipping rates not enabled in Shopify

You must have this feature enabled on your Shopify plan. A notification banner will appear in Intuitive Shipping if the feature isn't enabled. If there’s no banner but rates still aren’t showing, it may have been disabled. 

Status is set to 'Test'

This applies to the app’s General settings or to individual Scenarios or shipping methods. In Test mode, only you can see rates. Use ‘Intuitive’ as either the first or last name - or in the optional address field if you're using BigCommerce or Shopify B2B - to trigger rate display.

Status is set to 'Off'

This setting prevents rates from showing entirely, even if ‘Intuitive’ is used at checkout. Check both the General status and individual Scenario or shipping method statuses.

Shopify or BigCommerce shipping zones are missing

Even though Intuitive Shipping zones are managed separately, your eCommerce platform still requires at least one shipping zone per region you ship to, and Intuitive Shipping must be added as a rate provider in that zone.

Intuitive Shipping is not set as a carrier service

You must assign Intuitive Shipping as a carrier service to each applicable shipping zone in your eCommerce platform settings.

‘Future Services’ not enabled

When adding Intuitive Shipping as a carrier service to Shopify, be sure the Future Services box is checked.

An error occurred

Go to the Activity page and filter activities by ‘Unsuccessful requests only’. Open an entry and check for any warnings or errors.

If you’re unsure what’s causing the issue, reach out to us - we’re happy to help!

If you or your customers are seeing rates at checkout but nothing is showing on the Intuitive Shipping Activity page, the rates are coming from another source, such as Shopify, BigCommerce or another third-party service.

To confirm, go to your platform admin and open Shipping and delivery settings. In Shpify, click Manage rates on your General profile, then check each shipping zone.

If another rate provider is listed besides Intuitive Shipping, the rates are being supplied by that provider. Any issues with those rates will need to be resolved directly with that source.

If you're using Shopify, this situation can sometimes happen when the ‘Future Services’ box is unchecked in your Shipping and delivery settings. When that box isn’t checked, Intuitive Shipping will still calculate rates and show them on the Activity page, but Shopify won’t display them at checkout.

If LTL (Less Than Load or ‘Truckload’) rates from your freight service shipping method aren’t displaying, it may be because the Billing and Origin addresses don’t match, or the carrier account information is missing.

LTL freight carriers require the Billing and Origin addresses to be the same.

Intuitive Shipping lets you save time by importing dimensions for multiple products using a CSV file with a specific format. If you add, remove or change any of the columns or their headings, the import will fail and you’ll receive an error notification.

To fix this, re-export the CSV file, copy your dimension data into the new file, and save it without making any changes to the columns or their headings.

Errors may not always indicate why rates failed to appear at checkout. They usually indicate a problem with the carrier service (such as incorrect account credentials or oversized packages), the product (like missing weight or dimensions), or your account status (for example, still in Sandbox mode).

Errors won’t be logged if the issue is related to

• conditions or condition groups
• blended rates 

Some carriers limit how many packages can be included in a single shipment, even if each one meets their size rules. If Intuitive Shipping generates more packages than the carrier allows, no rates will be returned, and you’ll see an error in the Warnings & Errors section of the Activity details.

To resolve this:

• Increase the max weight limit in your main Packages settings.

• If you’re using total-based or quantity-based packing, increase the max capacity in the shipping method settings.

• Add larger package sizes and assign them to the method if appropriate.

• Use Scenario conditions to limit large orders, such as setting a weight condition that disables the method if the order is too heavy.

Check with your carrier to confirm their package limits.

If carrier rates at checkout don’t match rates at fulfillment, it could be due to one or more of the following reasons:

Timing

Intuitive Shipping calculates live rates at the moment of checkout. If you’re printing labels and fulfilling the order days later, changes to carrier rates may cause differences.

Fuel surcharge

Some carriers apply a fuel surcharge that updates daily based on fuel prices. Small differences (usually under $1.00) are often caused by this fluctuation.

Carrier API

Carriers sometimes update their rates but delay updating their API. When this happens, recently changed rates might not be reflected immediately at checkout.

Account setup

If you’re using your own carrier account and seeing unexpected rate differences, contact your carrier to ensure Rating API access is enabled on your account.

Settings

Shipping method settings can impact rate calculations. For example, enabling residential rates (typically higher), insurance, or carrier pickup may affect pricing. Make sure your shipping method setup matches your fulfillment process.

Weights and dimensions

Incorrect product weights or package dimensions can throw off the rate. Ensure your shipping calculations use the same weight and dimension values as your fulfillment tool.

Note: Intuitive Shipping can obtain produce weight values from Shopify or BigCommerce. If weights exist in both your eCommerce platform and Intuitive Shipping, the weight from Intuitive Shipping will override the weight in your platform settings.

Delivery time estimates are provided by the carrier and are not guaranteed.

Delays may occur during peak periods or due to factors like weather or public health disruptions. For the most accurate information, check with your preferred carrier directly.

Intuitive Shipping displays delivery times exactly as returned by the carrier. If estimates are consistently inaccurate, reach out to the carrier for clarification.

You can add order processing time to your parcel service shipping methods. This time is added to the carrier’s delivery estimate. For example, if the carrier returns ‘3 business days’ and you add 3 processing days, the customer will see ‘6 business days’ at checkout.

In some cases, estimated delivery times from carriers may not appear at checkout. This is usually caused by an issue with the carrier.

If delivery times are missing for all carriers or service levels, start by checking your settings.

Go to the General section of the parcel service shipping method and click ‘Show additional display settings’. Make sure both ‘Show delivery time’ and ‘Carrier delivery time’ are enabled.

If these settings are enabled and delivery times still aren’t appearing for any carrier, please contact us for support.

In Shopify, each product has a checkbox labeled ‘This is a physical product’. If this box is unchecked, Shopify treats the product as non-shippable, like a digital item, and doesn’t send it to Intuitive Shipping for rate calculation.

If the checkout skips directly to the payment screen, review the product settings for each item in the cart to make sure the ‘physical product’ box is checked.

When there’s an issue with your Google API credentials, Google treats the distance as ‘null’ or zero (0). This prevents distance-based rates from calculating properly or at all. Google doesn’t always return an error message to Intuitive Shipping when this happens.

To troubleshoot, follow these steps in order:

1. Validate your API key

Check that your API key is entered correctly with no typos or extra spaces.

2. Re-save your API key

Cut the API key from the field, save your settings, then paste it back in and save again.

3. Verify your Billing Account

Make sure you have an active billing account and that it’s linked to the correct API Project. If needed, contact Google support for billing help.

4. Confirm there are no restrictions

Set your key to ‘unrestricted’ and ensure API Restrictions are set to ‘None’. While Google recommends using restrictions, they will block Intuitive Shipping from connecting and calculating distance-based rates.

If issues persist, please contact us for support.

During the Google API setup, we guide you through enabling both the Distance and Geocoding APIs.

When you set up a local delivery method that uses distance to calculate rates, Intuitive Shipping first tries the Directions API, which measures distance using postal codes and mapped routes. If that does not work, we fall back to the Geocoding API, which uses geo-coordinates to calculate straight-line distance.

In the Optional settings section of the method, you can choose to use Geocoding only. This helps when postal codes are not available, but it is not foolproof. If either address cannot be converted to coordinates, the calculation will fail.

Distance-based rates require a Google API account, which uses the Directions API by default. This calculates distance from your shipping origin to the customer’s address using postal or ZIP codes. In some cases, this may not reflect the actual distance, as it doesn’t account for specific street addresses.

If needed, we can adjust your app settings to calculate distance using the customer’s exact address. This improves accuracy but requires the customer to enter their address precisely. Typos, format variations like ‘Road’ vs. ‘Street,’ or shorthand such as ‘L.A.’ instead of ‘Los Angeles’ may cause Google to reject the address, resulting in a failed rate calculation.

Contact us if you’d like to switch to exact address measurement.

Google Merchant Center requires that the shipping rates on your store’s website match the rates displayed through their service. If the rates differ, the rates on Google must be equal to or higher than those on your site. Lower rates on Google are considered non-compliant, which may cause product listing issues.

Learn more about resolving shipping rate discrepancies with Google Merchant Center here.

Google Merchant Center gets shipping rates and delivery times from your store. If your Intuitive Shipping shipping methods do not have delivery times, either custom or from the carrier, Google will assign a ‘default’ delivery range to them, typically ‘1 to 99’ business days.

To resolve this, go into your shipping method display settings and add a custom range or select the carrier delivery times (if applicable).

You may receive a notification from Google that delivery times are being shown as ‘1 to 99’, with a request to update your eCommerce platform settings. Resolve this issue in Intuitive Shipping, as described above. You do not need to adjust your platform settings.

If you recently updated your store settings, be sure to sync the changes with Intuitive Shipping. To do this, go to the Shopify/ BigCommerce connection page and click the ‘Sync account settings’ button.

Customer tags and email addresses are not included in the information Shopify sends at checkout. To work around this, we perform additional verification checks to find this data. Two factors can affect the reliability of these checks: time and accuracy.

Response time from these checks is beyond our control and may cause delays. If a delay is too long, our system will default to a secondary verification method.

Information entered at checkout - such as the customer’s name and address - must exactly match what is stored in their account. Only one customer can have the same name. If the details don’t match, the verification will fail.

We can help improve reliability by adjusting your shop settings. Please contact us for assistance.

If you’re having an issue with your login credentials, please contact ShipStation directly.

Intuitive Shipping is intended to work only with ShipStation’s New Layout version. If you’re using their legacy version, the integration will not work, even if you were able to connect your account to Intuitive Shipping.

While you’re using ShipStation, check the URL at the top of your browser. The New Layout version includes the word ‘ship’ followed by a number, such as ‘ship11’.

To switch to the New Layout, click the ‘Try new layout’ button at the top of the screen. For more information, please contact ShipStation directly.

Only the New Layout version of ShipStation is compatible with the integration. At this time, the Legacy version of ShipStation is not supported. For more information, please contact ShipStation directly.

When you first enable the integration, all carriers and carrier services connected to your ShipStation account should appear in the Services section of the ShipStation shipping method. If any are missing:

• Try updating your carrier services. Changes made after enabling the integration may not be synced yet.

• If that doesn’t work, disable and re-enable the integration.

• If the issue persists, contact us for assistance.

Please note that some ShipStation carrier partners may not be compatible with Intuitive Shipping.

Yes. We can only access the Intuitive Shipping app directly. By default, we do not have access to your eCommerce platform admin or any other apps connected to your store.

By default, no, we don’t.

If you’re on Shopify, we can only access your platform settings after an access request has been sent to the account holder or admin and has been approved.

If you’re on BigCommerce, we can only access your platform settings if we’ve been set up with a user profile.

If we’re unable to diagnose an issue within the app, we may need access to your platform settings. For Shopify users, we typically require access to

• Orders and draft orders (limited access to certain settings)
• Admin and delivery settings
• Products
• Locations
• Apps and channels
• Customers

Limited access to these settings allows us to check for things like:

• Product-related issues like tags, collections, weights, etc.
• Issues with Profiles, Locations and shipping zones
• Customer settings that interact with our system during checkout
• Conflicts between Intuitive Shipping and other third-party apps installed on your store

We take your privacy and confidentiality seriously. We only access what’s necessary to help diagnose and resolve your shipping rate issues.

Not at all! If you prefer not to give Intuitive Shipping ongoing access to limited platform settings, you can remove our access or user profile once we’ve reviewed your setup or resolved the issue.

Keep in mind that if we need access again later, we’ll have to send a new request. This could delay how quickly we’re able to help.

For Shopify users, an automated notification is sent to the Shopify account holder when Intuitive Shipping requests access. If you don’t have access to that email address, you’ll need to ask someone who does to approve the request.

If you have access to your Shopify permissions settings, you can also manually grant Intuitive Shipping limited collaborator access by selecting the applicable permissions.

If your Shopify store requires a collaborator access code, you’ll need to provide that code to us before we can submit the request.

For BigCommerce users, we may ask you to create a user profile if needed. This request will typically come through our ticket response. Most technical issues can be resolved within the app, so access is only requested in rare cases.

We understand! If your store - or your client’s store - has a ‘no external access’ policy, we may still be able to diagnose and resolve the issue. We can access your Intuitive Shipping app settings directly.

If we can’t identify the issue within the app settings, or if we believe it may be related to your eCommerce platform settings, we may ask you to send detailed screenshots. Keep in mind that screenshots only provide a static and limited view, which may prevent us from fully diagnosing or resolving the issue.

As an alternative, you can book a tech support appointment and share your screen with us. Active users can schedule appointments directly from the app’s ‘Support’ page.

We’re happy to do a quick review of your setup. If it’s more complex or includes multiple Scenarios, shipping methods, or blended rates, a full review may not be possible.

We strongly recommend running test checkouts after setting everything up and before starting your free trial. Sandbox mode is free for as long as you need. If something isn’t working as expected, let us know—describing the issue helps us troubleshoot faster.

Tip: book a free onboarding session with a team member who can walk through your setup in real time. If you’re still in Sandbox mode, you can book directly from the card at the top of the ‘Get started’ page or the app’s ‘Support’ page.

Absolutely! To return to the Help Center, click your store name at the far right of the app header, then select ‘Support’ from the drop-down list. Click the ‘Visit our help center’ button near the top of the ‘Support’ page.

We also have links throughout the app that bring you to articles specifically related to features and settings on those app pages.

The Intuitive Shipping Status page provides real-time updates during app downtime caused by maintenance or unforeseen technical issues. We also provide updates when our carrier partners have rate-related issues.

Be sure to add the Status page to your browser bookmarks. Or click the 'Subscribe To Updates' button at the top of the Status page to receive status alerts by email.

Yes! To submit a ticket, click your store name at the far right of the app header, then select Support from the drop-down list. Complete the Email Support section.

We typically respond to support tickets within 1 business day.

One-on-one technical support for active users is available by appointment, often within the same day. You can book up to 14 days in advance. After booking, you’ll get a confirmation with details on how to join the meeting.

If you’re an active user experiencing an urgent, business-critical issue with rates not appearing at checkout and it’s causing lost sales, go to the app’s ‘Support’ page, fill out the Email support form, and select the ‘urgent’ option from the support type drop-down. We’ll respond as soon as possible.

For urgent issues submitted after hours, we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. If a longer resolution time is expected, we’ll let you know. All other after-hours requests are typically answered within 1 business day.

Yes! When a walkthrough is helpful, we can create a short video to explain troubleshooting steps or demo features. You’ll receive a link to watch it at your convenience.

We may do this proactively, or you can request a video when submitting your support ticket.

No worries! If you need special assistance, just let us know in your support ticket or when booking an appointment. We’ll do our best to accommodate your needs.

We offer support Monday to Friday. To see current hours, go to the ‘Support’ page from the app menu. Hours are shown at the top right and listed in Eastern Time. You'll also find our support hours here. Check back periodically for updates.

Yes! Active users can book a support appointment anytime through the app’s ‘Support’ page. If you need help sooner, submit an email request. We usually reply within 1 business day. Please note, we don’t offer phone support.

We do! Message us directly from the Intuitive Shipping app whenever you see the message bubble icon at the bottom right corner of any app page. We typically respond within a few minutes. Chat is currently available Monday

If you’re in Sandbox mode and not sure where to begin, book a free one-on-one Onboarding session right from the app. A support team member will walk you through setup step-by-step based on your shipping needs.

Already set things up? We can review it with you.

Onboarding sessions help ensure your setup is correct, so you can activate your free trial with confidence.

Onboarding sessions are intended to get you set up quickly so you can start using Intuitive Shipping on a live checkout. You take the lead, and we show you how to set it up.

If you're not quite ready to start configuring Intuitive Shipping, consider booking a demo instead. We'll provide a guided tour, discuss features you might find useful for when you are ready to start configuring the app, and we'll answer your questions in real-time. 

Typically, we can cover everything in one session. If we do need more time, or if you want us to review your setup before you activate, book a second one! We recommend booking directly with the onboarding specialist that hosted the original session, if possible.

Absolutely! Intuitive Shipping offers a configuration setup service. Just tell us how you want things set up, and we’ll take care of it. Contact us for more information.

Or, book a complimentary onboarding session with a team member who can guide you through setup or review your configuration to make sure everything’s on track.

An Intuitive Shipping configuration specialist will set up the app based on your requirements. Here's what we do:

• create Scenarios

• set up shipping methods (excluding carrier accounts)

• add zones, packages, and custom locations (if needed)

• configure product shipping settings

• test rate calculations to ensure everything works as expected

After setup, we’ll walk you through the configuration so you can manage it confidently.

Configuration setup does not include:

• connecting carrier accounts

• adding product dimensions or weights (individually or in bulk)

• connecting partner integrations

• editing platform or third-party app settings

We’re happy to guide you on optimizing your platform settings for use with Intuitive Shipping, and we recommend contacting our integration partners directly for help with their systems.

We use Zoom for our live support appointments. You don’t need to install the Zoom app to join. Zoom offers a browser version if you prefer. At a minimum, you’ll need a stable internet connection and a compatible web browser to access the meeting link.

Please join your Zoom appointment from a desktop or laptop computer. Screen sharing is often used and is much more limited on mobile devices.

We may be unable to continue your appointment if your computer doesn’t have a working microphone.

If there’s no built-in mic and you can’t access an external one, you can join Zoom from both your mobile device and your computer. This allows us to use screen sharing while still being able to communicate effectively.

If you already know your device doesn’t have a mic and you don’t have access to alternatives, please let us know when booking your appointment so we can discuss other options.

At this time, we’re unable to offer phone support by appointment or on request. Most technical issues require screen sharing so we can guide you through a solution or demonstrate a fix.

To ensure timely and effective support for everyone, please submit a ticket or book a one-on-one web conference appointment. We appreciate your understanding.

If you can't find a suitable appointment time, send us a ticket and let us know. We'll do our best to accommodate your schedule.

Our appointments are scheduled for 30 minutes, which is usually enough to resolve the issue or gather what we need to continue troubleshooting afterward.

To ensure all users have timely access to support, we may not be able to extend appointments. If more time is needed, we’ll follow up by email.

Appearing on camera during appointments is entirely optional. When booking, you’ll be asked for your preference so we can join accordingly. If you change your mind, just let your host know at the start of the meeting.

We often use screen sharing to troubleshoot issues or walk you through the app. While it can speed up explanations and help us diagnose problems, it’s not always required. If screen sharing isn’t possible, we may follow up by email with screenshots or request them from you. We can also send a short video after the appointment if needed.

Yes, we do! We always ask for your permission first. If you’d prefer not to have your appointment recorded, just let your host know.

We'll include a link to the recording with a the meeting summary email.

We understand things come up. To reschedule or cancel, use the link in your appointment confirmation. Deleting it from your calendar doesn’t update our system.

If you’re running late and don’t plan to reschedule, let us know. Appointment links close if you’re more than 10 minutes late.

Click on your store name in the top right of the app header, then select Account from the drop-down list.

You can add, remove, or update your secondary email contact and phone number at any time.

Your primary email contact is synced with your eCommerce platform and can’t be changed in the app. To update it, change the email address in your platform settings, then return to Intuitive Shipping and resync your platform settings from the Shopify or BigCommerce Connection page.

If the primary email contact address (usually the eCommerce platform account holder) isn’t the person managing Intuitive Shipping, you can add a secondary email contact. This ensures someone else receives app alerts. Both contacts will get notifications and admin-related messages.

In extremely critical situations, we may need to reach you quickly and can’t rely on email alone. We’ll only use your phone number in urgent, business-critical cases related to Intuitive Shipping.

If you prefer not to share your phone number, simply remove it from your account settings and click Save.

Click on your store name in the top right of the app header, then select Billing from the drop-down list.

If your account is active, the Billing page shows your current plan, monthly cost, usage to date, billing period end date, and any overage charges.

During the trial, a banner displays your trial end date.

You’ll also see all available billing plans and can switch at any time. If you want to downgrade, your usage must be within the limits of the lower-tier plan.

If you’re using Shopify, Intuitive Shipping app charges and any accrued additional order charges will appear on your monthly Shopify invoice. Learn more about how Shopify bills you here.

If you’re using BigCommerce, Intuitive Shipping app charge will be invoiced directly.

We invest in high-performance server infrastructure that scales with your store, and every shipping calculation comes at a cost to us.

Since test checkouts and abandoned carts often outnumber completed orders, we base our billing on successful orders instead. That gives you a more predictable way to choose the right plan.

All features are included with every plan. We don’t hide functionality behind higher tiers, and we don’t believe you should pay more just for testing or abandoned checkouts.

Absolutely! All merchants have access to email ticket support and live support through scheduled appointments. Enterprise plan users also get priority ticket support and a dedicated account manager.

Only successfully completed orders count towards your plan.

Only completed orders from your online store count towards your plan.

Orders from Shopify POS Lite do not count towards your plan limit. Orders from Shopify POS Pro that require shipping count towards your plan. Orders that do not require shipping will not count towards your plan.

If you’ve set up local pickup in Intuitive Shipping, any order that uses our system to calculate a rate - even free pickup - counts toward your plan.

If you’re using a third-party system to display pickup options, those orders also count. That’s because the eCommerce platform’s API doesn’t distinguish between shipping and pickup, so all rate calculations are included.

Only if you decide to upgrade. Each Intuitive Shipping plan includes a per-order overage fee if you exceed your monthly limit. If you’re just slightly over, it’s usually better to stay on your current plan.

Yes! If you go over your plan’s order limit, Intuitive Shipping will continue to work without interruption. A small additional order fee will apply for any orders beyond your monthly limit.

If you exceed your plan’s order limit and start accruing additional order costs, you’ll only be billed for costs up to the time you upgrade. Once you upgrade, additional order costs stop, but any already accrued will still apply.

Annual billing is not not currently feasible because of how billing plans and overage charges are structured.

You can upgrade to a higher tier at any point during your billing cycle.

Enterprise is our highest plan. If your monthly orders exceed the Enterprise plan limit, any additional orders will accrue additional order costs. On Enterprise, additional order costs have been structured to scale with your business.

You can downgrade your plan if the number of orders you have is lower than the order limit of the plan you wish to downgrade to. Your Intuitive Shipping charges will be prorated for that billing cycle - learn more here.

If you’re on an older pricing plan, your rate is locked in as long as you don’t make changes. You won't be moved to a newer plan.

If you do need to switch plans for any reason, you’ll need to choose from the current options. Once changed, you won’t be able to return to your original plan.

If you uninstall and return to Intuitive Shipping in the future, only our current plans will be available.

Our pricing reflects current costs and supports the continued development of advanced features and top-tier support. Prices may be updated from time to time.

For details, check the Billing page in the app.

Shopify -  uninstall the Intuitive Shipping app from your Shopify apps list. This will stop monthly billing.

BigCommerce - click the 'Cancel subscription' button on the Billing page in the app.

Note: Your final invoice may include charges for the current month and any additional order costs accrued before uninstalling.

Your settings will be saved for a brief period in case you decide to reinstall. If not, all data will be permanently removed.

If your shipping needs change, we’d love to welcome you back!

If you’ve been using Intuitive Shipping with Shopify and your store is closed, Shopify automatically pauses billing. If you reopen the store, billing resumes when your Shopify billing cycle renews.

You won’t be double-charged if you close and reopen within the same cycle. Charges are only paused while the store is closed and resume once it’s reopened.

If your store has permanently closed and you can’t access the admin to uninstall apps, contact Shopify for help. App charges should remain paused indefinitely while the store is closed.

If you turned off Intuitive Shipping in General Settings by setting the status to ‘Off’, this only disables all Scenarios and shipping methods at checkout. It’s a helpful way to pause rates temporarily for troubleshooting without turning off each Scenario.

However, this does not suspend billing.

Shopify - To stop billing, you must uninstall Intuitive Shipping from your Shopify apps list There’s no need to contact us to cancel, as we don’t have the ability to uninstall the app for you.

BigCommerce - click the 'Cancel subscription' button on the Billing page.

If you uninstalled or cancelled Intuitive Shipping during a billing cycle, you may receive an invoice at the end of the cycle for that month’s charges, plus any additional order costs accrued up to the uninstall/ cancellation date. Uninstalling the app stops future billing from renewing.

If you believe a charge was made in error, please contact us for help.

When you first install Intuitive Shipping, you begin in Sandbox mode, which is free to use for an unlimited time - allowing you to test your setup for as long as needed. When you’re ready, go to the Billing page in the app and select a plan to activate Intuitive Shipping and start your free trial.

Once a plan is activated, you can’t return to Sandbox mode from within the app. To do that, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall Intuitive Shipping. For more details, see the section titled ‘Can I suspend billing and come back to Intuitive Shipping later without rebuilding my entire setup?’

Changing the Status setting to ‘Test’ in General Settings, Scenarios, or shipping methods does not stop billing. It only hides rates from customers.

To stop billing completely, you must uninstall Intuitive Shipping from your eCommerce platform’s apps list.

Our EULA states that all fees paid are non-refundable.

When you install Intuitive Shipping, we’re added as a ‘rate provider’ to your eCommerce platform. Once a billing plan is activated, our system is called at every checkout, even if no Scenarios or shipping methods are set up or turned on.

That means we still perform condition checks, shipping method lookups, and product catalog syncs in the background. If you’re no longer using Intuitive Shipping, we strongly recommend uninstalling the app (Shopify) or cancelling your subscription (BigCommerce) to prevent future billing.

We cannot start or stop billing on your behalf. 

Only the eCommerce platform account holder or an Admin with billing access can activate, change, or cancel a billing plan. Once a plan is selected, recurring charges and any additional order costs must be approved by you or someone you’ve authorized.

Neither Intuitive Shipping nor your eCommerce platform can start billing or make plan changes on your behalf.

Yes! To temporarily stop using Intuitive Shipping, uninstall the app from your eCommerce platform’s Apps list. This will suspend billing on your account. Then, reinstall the app right away to return to Sandbox mode, which is free for unlimited use.

Your setup and settings will be preserved, so you won’t need to rebuild anything. You may receive a final invoice for the current month, but billing won’t resume until you activate a plan again.

Please note that we can’t guarantee your current plan’s pricing or features will still be available when you return.

Yep! If you’ve activated your account and you’re still within the free trial, you can delete Intuitive Shipping from your Apps list to pause the trial. When you’re ready to return, reinstall the app and choose a billing plan - the free trial will pick up where you left off. For example, if you had 10 days remaining, you’ll still have 10 days left.

Keep in mind, deleting the app may erase your settings. To keep your setup intact, reinstall the app right away. This puts you back into Sandbox mode, where your settings are saved and you can stay indefinitely. When you’re ready, just reactivate a billing plan to resume your trial.

Please note that we can’t guarantee your current plan’s pricing or features will still be available when you return.

Selecting a billing plan starts your free trial. When the trial ends, your first billing cycle begins automatically. No extra steps needed.

There’s no service interruption. When your free trial ends, billing starts automatically and you can continue using Intuitive Shipping just like before. It’s a seamless transition.

Nope! Intuitive Shipping is free to use in Sandbox mode for as long as you need. Your free trial won’t begin until you activate a billing plan, so you can take your time setting up and testing everything before going live.