Real-time carrier shipping rates (aka live rates) are calculated automatically during checkout on your Shopify store. Live rates let your customers choose how they want their products shipped. They can select between Economy and Express and see the estimated delivery dates for when they will receive the package. Note: This feature is available with a Gelato+ subscription
Benefits
Automatically calculate shipping rates: Your customers experience real-time carrier rates displayed at the checkout once they have entered their shipping destination. You as a merchant don’t have to do any shipping rate calculations.
Charge customers the right amount: Live rates mean you charge customers the right amount (unlike flat rates) which will allow you to upsell, and increase revenue and profit margins.
Offer express and economy shipping methods: With Live rates, you can offer economy and express shipping methods that could help you to increase conversion rates and reduce the cart abandonment rate in your Shopify store.
How to enable live rates
This feature is included in the Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans but it can also be added to any plan for a monthly fee. Contact Shopify if you need help.
First, enable real-time carrier-calculated rates on Shopify's end.
Second, connect your Shopify live rates feature to Gelato. Go to your Gelato Dashboard > Stores and choose your Shopify store, then click on Settings. Under "Shipping", click the checkbox next to "Enable live rates for my Gelato products". You can also enable free shipping for your customers using the dedicated checkbox.
Using live rates at checkout
We offer the following live shipping options for your end customer to choose from at checkout:
Standard shipping
Express shipping
For certain products and destinations, both shipping options may not be available, and the methods available for the particular address will show up at the checkout.
FAQs
Q: Can I have free shipping after enabling live service?
A: Yes, you can enable the free shipping method in the store settings
Q: What happens to my shipping profiles in Shopify after enabling Live rates?
A: Shipping profiles for non-Gelato products will not be affected. All existing Gelato shipping profiles will be removed. Products previously assigned to these profiles will be moved automatically to the General Shipping Profile in Shopify.
Q: What happens to shipping profiles in Shopify after disabling live rates?
A: If you have already enabled the Live store and want to disable it. Gelato will create shipping profiles automatically in Shopify but it will not assign products automatically.
Q: What happens if carrier service fails?
A: Carrier service would automatically fall back to Flat and Free shipping options in such cases.
Q: How are shipping rates calculated if there are Gelato and non-Gelato products in the cart?
A: If your customer has both Gelato and non-Gelato products in their cart, Shopify will automatically take the lowest available shipping rate from both product groups and combine them together into one. So your customer will see one shipping option available at the checkout.
Q: What happens to shipping rates for non-Gelato products after enabling Live rates?
A: If your store has products you fulfill elsewhere, you have to add shipping costs for those products separately on Shopify's end.
Q: What would be the delivery method for Free shipping if I enable Live rates and Free shipping method?
A: It would be standard shipping. You, as a merchant, will cover the cost. Gelato will still charge you the standard shipping fee.
Q: Can I extend the estimated delivery time?
A: Yes, you can do that by adding additional days under live rates settings.