How to Set Up Three‑Temperature Shipping with the Shopify App “Advanced Shipping Rules”

When operating a Shopify store, setting shipping rates is a crucial factor that directly impacts customer experience and profitability. Especially when dealing with products that require different temperature ranges, such as refrigerated, frozen, and ambient items, complex shipping rate settings become necessary.

This article provides a detailed explanation of how to achieve temperature zone shipping using the Shopify app 'Advanced Shipping Rules'.

'Advanced Shipping Rules' is a Shopify app that allows for flexible configuration of complex shipping rules that are difficult to manage with Shopify's standard features.

Developed by Bambri, it allows for precise control of shipping costs based on various conditions such as product group, weight, price, and delivery destination (postal code or region). This enables store owners to present accurate shipping fees to customers and reduce shipping-related issues.

"Advanced Shipping Rules" offers four pricing plans based on features and volume, as shown in the diagram below, with the most minimal plan available for $9 per month.

Image credit: Advanced Shipping Rules

In test mode, unlimited trials are available for any plan.
Additionally, each plan offers a 7-day free trial or evaluation when transitioning to live mode.

Therefore, I would like you to carefully consider what kind of settings you want to implement on your own EC,
which plan can achieve that,
and what the cost-effectiveness is.

'Advanced Shipping Rules' allows for a wide range of shipping settings. The main features are as follows.

• Shipping cost settings by product group: You can set different shipping costs for specific products or product groups (e.g., refrigerated items, frozen items, room temperature items).

• Shipping cost settings based on detailed conditions: You can determine shipping costs by combining multiple conditions such as product weight, price, quantity, SKU, and product tags.

• Shipping method restrictions: You can restrict the delivery of specific products to certain regions or apply only specific shipping methods (e.g., cool delivery).

• Shipping cost settings by region and postal code: You can set shipping costs for local delivery or specific areas based on municipalities and postal codes. (Available with Pro plan and above)

• Setting blend rates (combined shipping costs): You can establish flexible combined shipping rules, such as summing shipping costs or applying the highest shipping cost when products from different groups are purchased simultaneously.

• Flexible control of free shipping settings: You can apply free shipping under specific conditions (e.g., when the purchase amount exceeds XX yen, or when certain products are included) or exclude some products from free shipping.

• Customization of shipping options: You can freely edit the titles of shipping options or hide specific shipping rates.

To set up three-temperature delivery (room temperature, refrigerated, frozen) using 'Advanced Shipping Rules', primarily utilize the functions of 'Product Groups' and 'Blend Rate'.

1. Creating Product Groups:

   • First, set product tags such as 'Room Temperature', 'Refrigerated', and 'Frozen' for each product, or make them identifiable by SKU or similar.

   • Within the 'Advanced Shipping Rules' app, create product groups such as 'Room Temperature Group', 'Refrigerated Group', and 'Frozen Group' based on these tags or SKUs.

   • Set shipping rules corresponding to each temperature zone for each product group (e.g., refrigerated items have cool delivery charges, frozen items have frozen delivery charges).

2. Setting Delivery Zones and Rates:

   • In Shopify's shipping settings, set up delivery zones according to the destination regions.

   • In each delivery zone, add 'Advanced Shipping Rules' as the carrier calculated rate, so that the shipping rules set within the app are applied.

3. Setting blend rates (adjusting combined shipping costs):

   • The key to temperature zone delivery is the shipping cost settings when products from different temperature zones are purchased simultaneously.

   • For example, if 'room temperature items and refrigerated items' are purchased, set rules to apply only the refrigerated shipping cost if they can be shipped together in refrigerated shipping, or to sum the shipping costs individually.

   • Using the blend rate feature of 'Advanced Shipping Rules', we define shipping rules based on various combinations, such as when both the 'Room Temperature Goods Group' and the 'Refrigerated Goods Group' are in the cart, or when all 'Room Temperature Goods Group', 'Refrigerated Goods Group', and 'Frozen Goods Group' are in the cart.

   • This allows for complex logic such as 'Refrigerated and Frozen goods cannot be bundled, so shipping costs apply to each' and 'Refrigerated and Room Temperature goods can be bundled, and only the refrigerated shipping cost applies'.

4. Testing and Confirmation:

   • Once the settings are complete, be sure to place a test order to confirm that the shipping costs are calculated as intended. It is important to test various patterns by combining products from different temperature ranges or changing the delivery destination.

"Advanced Shipping Rules" is a powerful app that makes it possible to implement complex shipping settings, which is difficult to achieve with Shopify's standard features. This app becomes an essential tool for e-commerce sites that require flexible shipping rules based on product characteristics, such as temperature-controlled shipping. By configuring product groups, blend rates, and detailed conditions, you can present accurate pricing to customers and provide a smooth purchasing experience. This contributes to preventing cart abandonment and improving customer satisfaction, ultimately helping to expand store sales.