What are shipping policies?
Shipping policies determine where your Eshop can ship and how much a customer is charged for shipping. Each policy covers one or more destinations and contains at least one shipping method.
Shipping prices can be based on the basket's total weight, item quantity, or subtotal. When a customer enters their shipping address, Common Ground uses the active policy for that destination and displays the methods that match their basket.
Before you begin
Decide which countries you want to ship to.
Decide how you want to calculate shipping: by weight, item quantity, or basket total.
If you plan to calculate shipping by weight, make sure your items have accurate weights in grams.
Prepare the price ranges you want to use for each shipping method.
Each destination can only be assigned to one active shipping policy.
Create a shipping policy
Go to Eshop Editor > Checkout > Shipping policies.
Select Add a new shipping policy.
Enter a Policy title. This helps you identify the policy in the Backoffice (customers see the shipping method name instead).
Optional: enter a Free shipping above subtotal amount. Leave this blank if you do not offer free shipping.
Select the countries covered by the policy. Countries are grouped by region, and you can select an entire region or individual countries.
Configure the shipping method:
- Enter a Method name, such asStandard shippingorExpress shipping. Customers will see this name at checkout.
- Choose a Method type: Weight, Item quantity, or Basket total.
- Enter the applicable range and shipping price.Select Add a range if the shipping price should change for larger or higher-value baskets.
Select Add a method if you want to offer another option, such as express delivery.
Make sure Policy active is enabled.
Select Submit.
Choose a method type
Weight
The combined shipping weight of all items, in grams
Example: Charge one price up to 500g and another price up to 1,000g
Item quantity
The total number of units in the basket
Example: Charge one price for 1–3 items and another for 4 or more
Basket total
The basket subtotal in your shop currency
Example: Set shipping prices according to how much the customer spends
Set up price ranges
Each method must contain at least one range:
From is filled automatically and cannot be edited.
To is the upper limit of the range.
Price is the shipping amount charged when the basket falls within that range.
Ranges are inclusive. For example, a weight range from 1 to 500 applies to baskets weighing between 1 g and 500 g.
To create another range, set the current To value and select Add a range. Common Ground automatically starts the next range at the previous upper limit plus one. Make sure your ranges cover every basket you intend to accept.
Offer free shipping
Enter an amount in Free shipping above subtotal to offer free shipping when a basket subtotal exceeds that amount.
For example, if the threshold is 100, free shipping applies when the subtotal is more than 100. A subtotal of exactly 100 does not qualify.
When the threshold is met, checkout displays Free Shipping instead of the policy's paid shipping methods.
Add more destinations or delivery options
Create separate policies when different destinations require different prices.
Add multiple methods to the same policy when customers should be able to choose between options such as standard and express shipping.
A basket is evaluated against each method in the matching policy, so every method with a matching range can appear at checkout.
Edit, deactivate, or delete a policy
Return to Eshop Editor > Checkout > Shipping policies and select the policy you want to change.
Edit the settings and select Submit to save your changes.
Turn off Policy active to temporarily stop using the policy without deleting it.
Delete a policy only when you no longer need it. Deleted policies cannot be recovered.
If a shipping method does not appear at checkout
Check that:
the policy is active
the customer's destination is included in the policy
the destination is not assigned to another active policy;
the basket falls within one of the method's ranges; and
item weights are present and accurate when using a weight-based method.
Test each policy with representative baskets before making it available to customers, especially around the boundaries between price ranges.
FAQ
How do discounts affect free shipping?
Free-shipping eligibility is based on the basket subtotal before coupon discounts are applied. This means an order can remain eligible for free shipping even if a coupon subsequently reduces the amount paid below the free-shipping threshold. Discounts already applied directly to individual items are reflected in the basket subtotal and may affect eligibility.