Live Shopify checkout shipping rates for 100+ merchants
Two Shopify apps that fetch live delivery options and prices from carriers at checkout, instead of merchants maintaining fixed shipping rates by hand.
- Merchants
- 100+
- Client
- Two delivery companies
The problem
Shipping in Shopify is often set up as fixed rates that the merchant configures by hand. Those rarely match what a carrier actually offers or charges for a particular parcel and address.
What was built
I was involved in building two Shopify checkout apps for two different delivery companies: one a parcel carrier, the other a delivery service that works with several carriers. Both use Shopify's carrier service API to fetch delivery options and prices on demand and show them to the customer at checkout.
What made it hard
- Rates have to come back quickly enough not to slow down checkout.
- The apps have to cope when a carrier's API is slow or unavailable.
- Where several carriers are involved, their responses have to be combined into one clear set of options.
Where it is now
The apps are used by more than a hundred merchants between them, and I know Shopify's carrier service integrations very well as a result.
Facing something similar?
Send me a short outline. It does not need to be a finished specification, and I reply within one working day.