Market-driven shipping
Updated · SMART Shipping Rates & Rules (E-TRADE PARTNER)
Shopify is moving shipping setup from delivery profiles to Markets. Merchant rollout of market-driven shipping started on October 1, 2026, and all stores are due on it by July 1, 2027. SMART Shipping Rates & Rules detects which model your store uses. On a market-driven store it places its calculated rates through one app-owned delivery profile, SMART Shipping Rates, that covers every market with shipping turned on. Your zones, combined rates, and scripts keep working as before.
SMART Shipping Rates does this with zones, calculated rates, and delivery customizations.
Try it freeOn this page
What Shopify changes
- Shipping options are set per market (Markets > a market > Shipping) instead of in shipping profiles. A rate can be limited to collections and to "Ships from" locations (Shopify Help Center).
- When several rates in one shipping option match a cart, Shopify charges the highest. Different options are added together.
- Split shipping is turned on for every upgraded store. Weight-based and carrier- or app-calculated options are calculated per shipment and added together on split orders (what's changing).
- Merchants can turn an app's rates on or off in a market but can't edit them; the app sets the rates.
- On market-driven stores, Shopify's API for merchant-owned delivery profiles no longer changes live shipping: edits may save without error and do nothing. App-owned delivery profiles are not affected (Shopify changelog).
- Dates: merchant rollout began October 1, 2026, and all shops are due on market-driven shipping by July 1, 2027. Shopify calls these targets that may shift (upgrade guide).
How SMART places its rates
Since Shopify's Admin API 2026-10, registering a carrier service no longer adds it to your shipping settings, so the app places its rate method itself when you open it.
| Your store | Where the app's rates go |
|---|---|
| Shipping profiles (not yet market-driven) | A Shipping rates method in every zone of the General profile |
| Market-driven shipping | One app-owned delivery profile named SMART Shipping Rates that covers all products and every market with shipping on |
- Existing per-market options for the app's rates are kept as they are. The app never removes or converts them.
- If the app's rates go missing, the Shipping rates page shows a banner: "Shipping rates is missing from your shipping settings" (Add it now), "App delivery profile is inactive" (Activate), or "App delivery profile needs repair" (Repair).
- Your zones, rate conditions, combined rates, and shipping scripts run the same way on both models. They match the checkout address, not Shopify's market setup.
The Delivery profiles page
Delivery profiles in the app menu shows your Shopify shipping setup and works on any plan. Its subtitle tells you which model your store uses.
| On a market-driven store | On a shipping-profile store |
|---|---|
| Card for the SMART Shipping Rates app profile with Activate / Deactivate | Store default (General profile) and Custom profiles, with Add custom profile |
| Markets list; each market shows whether shipping to it is active, with Activate / Deactivate | Rename or delete a profile, move all products back to General |
| Add Shopify rate: Flat rate, Weight-based (tiers by package weight), or Value-based (tiers by order total) | Add Shopify rate with the same types, plus minimum and maximum order price or weight conditions |
| Rate conditions: Free shipping over an amount, and Applies to all products or Only products in selected collections | Copy Shopify rate to other zones and bulk delete duplicate rates |
| A This app's rates row marked Calculated | Edit in Shopify for anything the app can't edit |
Options that hold several rate groups are read-only in the app; use Edit in Shopify for those. Shopify's API can't create multi-tier weight options either.
What to check after your store moves
- Open Delivery profiles and confirm the subtitle says the store uses market-driven shipping.
- Confirm the SMART Shipping Rates app profile is Active.
- Check that shipping is active on each market you sell to.
- Open Shipping rates and fix any placement banner with Add it now, Activate, or Repair.
- Run a test in the Checkout simulator, then place a real checkout to a market you ship to.
- If Shopify's own rates now add up differently, remember that matching rates in one option charge the highest, and options add together.
Keep calculated rates working through the move to Markets
SMART detects market-driven shipping and places its rates for you. 7-day free trial. Free on development stores.
Try the app freeFrequently asked questions
›Do I have to rebuild my SMART zones for market-driven shipping?
No. SMART zones, rate conditions, combined rates, and scripts match the checkout address and run in the app's carrier service. What changes is where Shopify lists the app's rates: in the SMART Shipping Rates app profile instead of your General profile.
›Why do edits to my old shipping profiles do nothing?
On a market-driven store, checkout uses each market's shipping options. Shopify ignores changes to merchant-owned delivery profiles there. Edit rates in Markets, or on the app's Delivery profiles page, which shows your markets.
›How do I know whether my store uses market-driven shipping?
Open Delivery profiles in the app. On a market-driven store the subtitle says shipping options are configured per market instead of per delivery profile.
›Can I turn the app's rates off for one market?
Yes, in Shopify admin: Markets > the market > Shipping lets you turn an app's rates on or off. To stop all shipping to a market, use Deactivate on that market in the app's Delivery profiles page.