Rates
How to Control Pickup, Delivery & Shipping Rates
Configure flexible pricing for pickup, delivery, and shipping through the Bird app or Shopify.
Manage rates from either the Bird app or the Shopify admin. Complete the Rates Setup in the app first. Then configure pickup, delivery, and shipping rates in the Bird app or Shopify.
Complete Rates Setup in the app first. Otherwise, Shopify manages rates automatically.
Rate Configuration Options
The Bird app offers more rate conditions than Shopify admin.
| Rates based on | From Shopify Admin | From Bird App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Yes | Yes |
| Day of week | No | Yes |
| Order Day | No | Yes |
| Time of day | No | Yes |
| Urgency | No | Yes |
| Date | No | Yes |
| Multiple Conditions | No | Yes |
Rate Condition Examples
Each condition changes the price based on something about the order. The plan shown is the minimum Bird plan that condition requires (see the full feature table).
1. Price
Plan: Free plan+
Set a different rate depending on the order value.
Example: Orders over $50 get free delivery. Orders under $50 pay the standard $10 delivery rate.
2. Weight
Plan: Free plan+
Set a different rate depending on the total order weight.
Example: Orders under 5kg pay $5. Orders from 5-20kg pay $15.
3. Product/SKU
Plan: Growth plan+
Add an extra charge when a specific SKU is in the cart. This targets individual SKUs, not Shopify product tags. (Tags are used by a different feature, product overrides, which control lead time and availability rather than price. See How to Configure Expedited Delivery (Same-Day & Next-Day) for Specific Products if that’s what you’re trying to do instead.)
Example: SKU PRODUCT-XL adds $10 to the delivery rate whenever it’s in the cart.
4. Day of Week
Plan: Growth plan+
Set a different rate depending on which day the customer selects. This looks at the pickup/delivery/shipping date the customer picked in the widget, not the day the order itself was placed. To charge based on the day someone orders instead, see Order Day below.
Example: $10 for Monday-Friday delivery, $15 for Saturday-Sunday delivery.
5. Order Day
Plan: Growth plan+
Set a different rate depending on which day of the week the order was placed, regardless of which day the customer picked for pickup, delivery, or shipping. This is the opposite of Day of Week above: Day of Week looks at the selected fulfillment date, Order Day looks at when the order came in.
Example: Orders placed on a Saturday get charged a $5 weekend-order fee, no matter what delivery date the customer picks.
6. Time of Day
Plan: Growth plan+
Set a different rate depending on the delivery time or the length of the selected time window.
Example: $10 for a 3-hour delivery window, $15 for a 30-minute delivery window.
7. Urgency (Rush/Same-Day)
Plan: Growth plan+
Set a different rate depending on how soon the customer wants the order, using Min Days and Max Days.
Example: Delivery today or tomorrow (Min Days 0, Max Days 1) costs $25. Delivery on any later date costs $10.
This is how same-day delivery and standard delivery coexist on the same store: they’re two separate rates, not two separate services. The customer picks one date in the widget, and whichever rate’s Min/Max Days matches that date is the one that applies. There’s no separate step where the customer chooses “rush” or “standard.”
8. Date
Plan: Growth plan+
Set a different rate for specific dates or date ranges.
Example: $20 delivery from December 20-31. $10 the rest of the year.
9. Multiple Conditions
Plan: Growth plan+
Combine any of the above conditions on a single rate.
Example: $30 when the order is both rush (today or tomorrow) and over 20kg. $10 otherwise. The same combining works for any pairing, such as a rate that only applies on a specific weekday and time window.
When are these rates shown?
Rate conditions are evaluated after the customer picks a date and time in the Bird cart widget, not before. The widget stays a date/time picker throughout; it does not display the configured rates as separate buttons, tiers, or service choices. Once a date and time are picked, Bird checks which configured rates qualify, and the result appears on the Shopify checkout page as a priced shipping option.
Example: A merchant has configured a $10 standard rate, a $15 weekend rate, a $25 rush rate for today/tomorrow, and a $20 December rate. The customer picks a date and time in the widget. Bird then checks that selection against all four rates and shows whichever ones qualify at checkout. The rates are the result of what the customer picked, not a menu shown beforehand.
Showing multiple qualifying rates at checkout
If more than one rate can qualify for the same order, control which of them the customer sees using Manage Visibility > Control Bird Rates Visibility in the Rates section of the Bird app. This is a different setting from Control Visibility for widget audience targeting, which controls whether customers see the Bird widget at all. This setting controls which rate amount displays once several rates match the same order. Choose one of:
- All qualifying rates should be visible - shows every rate that matches the order and the selected date/time.
- Minimum rate should be visible among all qualifying rates - shows only the lowest-priced matching rate.
- Maximum rate should be visible among all qualifying rates - shows only the highest-priced matching rate.
This setting only changes what displays at Shopify checkout. It does not add rate buttons or delivery-service tiers to the Bird widget.
Rates activate immediately after completing the 3-step rates onboarding. Unlike the widget, you cannot test rates on a test theme. Rates become active on your live store as soon as onboarding finishes.
Important limitation: the widget can’t show rate choices
Bird’s cart widget gives one date/time picker per fulfillment method. Rate conditions can’t be moved into the widget as separate choices. For example, a merchant can’t configure the widget to show “Standard Delivery - $10,” “2-Day Delivery - $20,” “Weekend Delivery - $25,” and “Christmas Delivery - $30” as four buttons for the customer to pick from. The customer picks a date and time, Bird checks that pick against the configured rates, and the matching ones appear at Shopify checkout instead, subject to the Manage Visibility setting above.
Quick guide
| Merchant wants to… | Condition |
|---|---|
| Offer free delivery over a cart value | Price based |
| Charge based on weight | Weight based |
| Add a fee for a specific product | Product/SKU based |
| Charge extra on weekends | Day of Week based |
| Charge extra for orders placed on a certain day, regardless of delivery date | Order Day based |
| Charge different prices for different time slots | Time of Day based |
| Offer same-day/rush delivery alongside standard delivery | Urgency based |
| Charge extra during holidays or a seasonal period | Date based |
| Combine conditions, like rush plus weight, or a specific weekday plus time | Multiple Conditions |
| Show delivery-rate buttons inside the widget | Not supported - rates only show at Shopify checkout |
Key rule: conditions decide the price after the customer picks a date and time. The widget is only where that pick happens; the rates it produces show up on Shopify checkout, according to the Manage Visibility setting.
Detailed Setup Guides
- How to Configure Pickup Rates
- How to Configure Delivery Rates
- How to Configure Shipping Rates
- How to Fix Rate Errors on Checkout Page
Configure Rates via Shopify
Follow Shopify’s help document to add rates in the shipping and delivery section of Shopify admin.
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