Shopify – Connect Your Store

Connect your Shopify store to FreightExchange and your customers see their final delivery price at checkout. Paid orders land on your Quote page, ready to book, label and track.

In this article

1. How it works
2. Getting started
3. Connect your store
4. Set up your shipping
5. Optional extras
6. Check your setup
7. Where to find everything
8. Troubleshooting

1. How it works

1.1 At the checkout

1. Rates are worked out from your store's pickup address, the shopper's delivery address and every item in the cart.
2. Each SKU is matched to your Standard Packaging to get its cartons, sizes and weights.
3. All items are quoted together as one consignment with the carriers on your account, including any Bring Your Own (BYO) carrier accounts.
4. Your Workflow Rules decide which options to show, such as cheapest, fastest, depot collect or click and collect.
5. Your Sales Rates set what the customer pays, for example a margin or free delivery.
6. Delivery options appear at checkout and the customer pays in Shopify.

1.2 After ordering

2. Getting started

2.1 Get your store ready  Shopify

1. Make sure you have admin access to your Shopify store.
2. Ask Shopify support to turn on Third-Party Carrier-Calculated Shipping for your plan.
3. Go to Settings > Locations and add your store address as a location.

2.2 Add the eCommerce Plugin  FreightExchange

The Shopify integration is a paid add on. See FreightExchange pricing.

1. Log in or sign up.
2. Click Subscriptions in the top menu bar and add the eCommerce Plugin. For more detail, see How to Subscribe to FreightExchange.

3. Connect your store

You start in FreightExchange and finish in Shopify.

Step 2. Choose Shopify in the Add Platform window and click Connect.

4. Set up your shipping

4.1 Set your default pickup and delivery options  FreightExchange

Go to Apps > Systems Integrations and click the settings icon next to your store. This opens Edit Settings.

The Edit Settings window. Each setting is explained below.

4.2 Set up your Standard Packaging  FreightExchange

FreightExchange rates each order from the items in it. Add one entry per carton under Settings > Packaging.

For more detail, see How To Set Up Your Standard Packaging. You can also add your Products by following How To Configure Your Products in FreightExchange.

4.3 Link products that ship in more than one carton  Shopify

Skip this step if every product ships in one carton.

1. Go to Settings > Metafields and metaobjects and add a product metafield called packagingids.
2. Open each product that ships in more than one carton.
3. In packagingids, list one Packaging ID per carton, separated by commas with no spaces.

4.4 Choose which carriers show at checkout  FreightExchange

Set up Workflow Rules under Settings > Rules with your preferred carriers and shipping rules. These control which options your customers see, such as cheapest, fastest, depot collect or click and collect.

5. Optional extras

You don't need these to go live. Add them when they suit your business.

5.1 Use your own carrier accounts  FreightExchange

To ship on your own carrier accounts, set them up under Carriers & Accounts.

• Each carrier uses API-Based Rates or a Manual Upload rate card.
• Each carrier needs its own BYO Carrier add on.

See Get Started with BYO Carrier Accounts.

5.2 Set what your customers pay  FreightExchange

With Sales Rates you can

• add a margin to your freight cost
• offer free delivery to selected postcodes
• charge for optional products
• set charges for regional and remote areas

Sales Rates need BYO rate management, which comes with a BYO Carrier add on. You can also set shipping rates in Shopify instead.

5.3 Ship from more than one warehouse

FreightExchange

1. Add each warehouse to your Address Book.
2. Note the Address ID of each warehouse.

Shopify

1. Go to Settings > Metafields and metaobjects and add a product metafield called originAddressId.
2. On each product, enter the Address ID of the warehouse that ships it.
3. If variants ship from different warehouses, set it at variant level.

5.4 Offer depot collection at checkout

Customers can collect their order from a carrier depot near their delivery address. It appears at checkout alongside your door delivery options.

Depot options at checkout show the depot address, distance, transit time and price.

At the checkout

• FreightExchange finds the carrier's nearest active depot within your depot radius of the delivery address.
• If no depot is within the radius, that option doesn't show.
• Each carrier service shows one depot, with its address and distance.
• The price is based on the depot's location, not the customer's address.

Surcharges

• Tail lift, manual handling and hand load and unload don't apply.
• On-forwarding, remote area and WA pickup surcharges can still apply, based on the depot address.
• The carrier may charge a storage fee later. This isn't included in the checkout price.

After ordering

• Once the quote is confirmed, the depot address replaces the delivery address on the Quote page, so the carrier receives the depot as the destination.
• The customer's name, email and phone stay on the order.

Availability

Available for carriers using a Manual Upload rate card. It's not yet available for API-Based Rates or for sender drop off at a depot.

Set your depot radius  FreightExchange

1. Go to Settings > Carriers and rates.
2. Under Depot radius, enter the furthest distance in km a depot can be from the delivery address.
3. Click Save changes.

A bigger radius gives customers more depots to choose from, but they may need to travel further to collect.

The Depot radius field under Carriers and rates.

6. Check your setup

Run one test order before you go live.

7. Where to find everything

In your Shopify admin

In the FreightExchange portal

8. Troubleshooting