Adding and managing shipping zones

You can establish a destination zone once you've added a shipping method. You can set up different shipping zones for different shipping options, edit, delete them or add new ones.

When you establish a shipping method in your store, it is automatically assigned to the "No limitations" zone by default. This means that customers from anywhere in the world can choose this shipping option. To offer a shipping option exclusively to a specific area, you can restrict its shipping region to that particular area. You can create a shipping region based on country, state/province, ZIP/postal code, or by drawing a zone on a map. Both methods will be covered in the following sections.

It’s up to you to decide how to create destination zone:

• For local delivery, it’s better to create a zone on a map.
• For shipping goods across the country or to particular states, it’s better to create a zone by ZIP codes/states/countries.

You have the capability to create multiple destination zones. For instance, you can implement a free local delivery option. With this delivery method, delineate a zone on a map close to your store or warehouse and offer free delivery to nearby customers. For customers residing outside this zone, you can apply flat-rate charges. Simply create another shipping method and configure a shipping region covering the remainder of the city.

Similarly, you can create other shipping methods and define shipping zones by state, country, or region. You can also mix shipping zones in one shipping method. For instance, you can deliver to particular states excluding particular cities or even streets.

Adding a shipping zone using Google map

This method is especially advantageous if you run a local business and want to prioritize local delivery. Moreover, you can use this approach to offer free delivery to the nearest area, while applying customized rates for shipping outside of this zone.

To create a zone on map (for delivery):

1. Go to Shipping & Pickup and click on the shipping method you want to create a zone for.
2. Scroll to the Shipping region block.
3. Select Limit by zone on map and click Create zone.
4. You will see a polygon on the map. Use the drag handles of polygon to resize the zone you deliver to with this shipping or delivery method. Example:
   

   

   If you’ve specified an address as your Shipping Origin on the Shipping, Delivery, and Pickup page, that address will be pinned on the map. Right-click on the created polygon to see how far you deliver in kilometers.
   In case you have the same delivery rate for different locations, click + Add new zone on the map and use additional polygon to define another area for your shipping option. You can add up to 20 polygons per zone.
5. Click Save and Finish.

If you need to start over, or you want to use other limitations, you can click the Trash icon to delete the zone:

After deleting the drawn map area, the shipping method will get the No limitations zone option. After that, you can start over and shape the zone the way you need to limit this shipping method to a certain area.

When a customer enters an address within a designated zone, they will see all available shipping options customized for that zone and can choose their preferred shipping method for their order. However, if a customer's address does not match any of your defined zones, they will encounter the message "Sorry, we don't ship to this location" and will be unable to proceed with placing an order in your store.

Creating a shipping zone by country, state, or province

If your business operates on a larger scale beyond local boundaries and you deliver nationwide or internationally, it's advisable to create shipping zones based on countries, states, or provinces, depending on the scale of your operations. When you set up a shipping method for a specific country, it will automatically be available for all its corresponding states or provinces.

The same way, a shipping zone covering the state or province will be applied to all the cities, towns, or territories within.

You can use this method to set different shipping rates for different states. For example, you can create a shipping method with a flat shipping rate of $20, limit its shipping zone to Alaska and customers from Alaska will be charged $20 for their orders. For other customers, you can create another shipping method with lower shipping rates.

To create a zone for a delivery method or a tax rate by using country, state, or province:

1. From your store admin, go to Shipping & Pickup and click on the shipping method you need to set up.
2. Scroll to the Shipping region section.
3. Click Limit by country or region and select countries from the list. You can start typing the name of a country or a region in the field to find it quicker:
   

   

4. To select a particular administrative division, click on the country, then select states, regions, or provinces.
5. Click Apply Selection.
6. Click Save.

If later you need to change the list of countries or states where you deliver to, click Edit Zone and make changes.

During checkout, when a customer enters their address, they will be shown all the available shipping options tailored to that zone, enabling them to choose their preferred shipping method for their order. However, if a customer's address does not match any of your defined zones, they will receive the message "Sorry, we don't ship to this location" and will be unable to proceed with placing an order in your store.

Creating a shipping zone by ZIP or postal code

You may want to limit the destination area to a specific city, block, or street. For example, if you don’t want to ship to remote towns. Or if you offer in-store pickup and want to exclude from the shipping region the same ZIP code as your store has. In that case, you can use ZIP codes and wildcards to set up your shipping region.

To create a zone for a delivery method by ZIP code:

1. From your store admin, go to Shipping & Pickup and click on the shipping method you need to set up.
2. Select Limit by ZIP or postal code, then enter the zip code. For several ZIP codes, keep adding them one by one in the list:
   

   

3. Click Save.

Using wildcards

To streamline the process of adding zones, you can make use of wildcards. Wildcards are special symbols that enable quick inclusion of multiple ZIP codes or exclusion of specific areas. By employing wildcard symbols that match numbers and spaces, you can create shipping zones that are more flexible:

Here’s how you can use it:

Use cases: Setting up multiple delivery zones

The creation of delivery zones provides exceptional flexibility. You can deliver to multiple states or cities and also create mixed delivery zones. For instance, you might choose to offer nationwide shipping while excluding specific states or cities. Alternatively, you can deliver throughout Canada and include northern US states as well.

Here are some examples to better understand how the specific delivery zones work:

Shipping abroad and to particular regions within your country

Let’s say you want to ship all over Canada and to northern states in the US. To do so, you set up the “Canada + north of the US” shipping method where you specify the US states, and then select all Canadian provinces:

Now, this shipping method will work for all provinces in Canada and 3 states in the US.

Shipping all over the country except few cities (using wildcard symbols)

Suppose you intend to ship nationwide but wish to exclude a few cities that are located too far away, such as Atka and Bethel in Alaska.

In that case, you can use the wildcards. Wildcard is a special symbol that you can add to the ZIP code to quickly add dozens of postal codes or exclude particular areas.

To exclude particular cities, you need to add their ZIP codes with a ^ symbol:

1. Go to Shipping & Pickup and click on the shipping method you need to set up.
2. Scroll down to the Shipping region and select Limit by ZIP or postal code.
3. Make sure in the Country above the field, you have United States selected, and then specify ZIP codes of cities you want to exclude:
   

   

4. Click Save.

Shipping to particular states, except several cities

You may need to be more specific about where you deliver to. You can include in your shipping zone as many cities from one state as you need.

Let's consider you want to provide delivery services to California, Idaho, and Oregon. However, for Oregon, you only intend to ship items to Portland and Salem. In this scenario, you would add California and Idaho as states and then include ZIP codes for Portland and Salem. Consequently, this shipping method will be applicable exclusively to customers located in Portland and Salem.

To set up the chosen shipping method properly, you need to specify all ZIP codes of Portland and Salem and then all ZIP codes for California and Idaho states.

Instead of adding hundreds of lines of ZIP codes for California, you can use the wildcard symbols. Wildcard is a special symbol that you can add to the ZIP code to quickly add dozens of postal codes or exclude particular areas. You can check all the symbols in the section above.

With wildcard symbols, you can add all California addresses by just 16 lines:

The same way, use the wildcards to quickly add Idaho ZIP codes and then Portland and Salem ZIP codes.

Setting up destination zones for the UK

Due to the lack of a standardized and definitive list of UK counties for use in online stores, it is advisable to calculate shipping rates for the UK based solely on the county name and postal code.

At checkout, when the UK is selected as a “Ship to” country, the State (County) is displayed as a text field, not a drop-down list that requires selection. Customers have to input their county name to the State (County) field. If you calculate shipping rates based on County and your customer mistypes at checkout, they will see a warning that there is no shipping to this location till they enter the county name correctly.

To minimize the negative effect of such mistypes at checkout, we recommend you to use the postal codes for restricting the delivery zones within UK:

If you ship across the UK, just choose the UK in the Limit by country or region option: