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What should I do if an order cannot be completed at the Shopify checkout?
What should I do if an order cannot be completed at the Shopify checkout?

Troubleshooting Shopify checkout issues

Updated over a week ago

In this article we will share more information on why at times your customers (or you) may not be able to complete an order in a Shopify store.

When this occurs, we can usually see an error at the checkout stating that there are no shipping options available or that the item/order to this country cannot be completed.

1. Shopify Markets Restrictions

The country in the address is not included in active Markets configured in your Shopify account, meaning that sales to this country is not allowed. This can also prevent the end customer form selecting their country in the Checkout. One of the two most popular causes for this issue.

  • Check if the product is available for sale in the customer’s region:

    • Go to Settings > Markets

    • Ensure that the market (country/region) is enabled and shipping is set up correctly.

As you can see in the photo, the International market is inactive, so products from this store can be only ordered to Poland.

2. Shipping Zone & Rates Issues

The shipping profile is not the Gelato dedicated shipping profile, and the profile that is currently assigned does not include the country provided in the address. Due to this, Shopify cannot find and available shipping methods to use for this order, therefore, cannot allow the customer to complete the order. Second of the two most popular causes for this issue.

  • Ensure a shipping zone exists for the customer's destination:

    • Please to go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Shipping and delivery

    • Under General shipping rates, check if the customer’s country/region is included in a shipping zone.

    • If not, add the region and set up rates.

  • Check if there are active shipping rates:

    • Please click on Manage rates for the relevant shipping zone.

    • Ensure there is at least one valid shipping rate for the customer’s location.

As you can see here, this custom profile has no Shipping Zones (and rates) so there are no available shipping methods for products added to this profile. This is why the error appears at the checkout in the first screenshot.

3. Carrier-Calculated Shipping Issues (Live Rate shipping)

If you are using Live Rate shipping the problem can be caused by an error in our system. In this scenario, the shipping methods check is done on our end, opposite to previous scenarios where this was done directly in the online store and fully based on the shipping settings in your Shopfy.

4. Product weight shipping related settings

This scenario is very rare but it is worth checking if you are not using Live Rates and other potential causes were eliminated.

  • Check if the product is marked as a physical product:

    • Please go to Shopify Admin > Products

    • Select the product in question

    • Scroll to Shipping and make sure “This is a physical product” is checked.

  • Check if the product weight is set correctly:

    • If weight-based shipping rates are used, make sure the product has a weight assigned.

As you ca see, product is marked as physical, and information about weight is included in the product shipping settings.

5. Advanced Settings & Apps

As many merchants utilize a variety of apps in their store, in case of any issues it is worth to check if a third-party app is controlling shipping (another fulfillment app like Printify or any other app that has permissions/access to the products & shipping settings). If you find such an app, please deactivate it temporarily, refresh your store (or open it in an incognito/private mode) and test if the eror will occur again.

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