Shopify shipping profiles after migrating from WooCommerce (2026)
How to recreate WooCommerce shipping zones and methods in Shopify — shipping profiles, product-specific rates, dimensional weight, carrier-calculated shipping, and free shipping thresholds after WooCommerce migration.
WooCommerce and Shopify both use zone-based shipping configuration, but the terminology and structure differ. WooCommerce uses "shipping zones" with "shipping methods" per zone. Shopify uses "shipping profiles" that apply to sets of products, within which you define "shipping zones" and "rates." The key difference: Shopify allows different shipping rates per product group within the same order, which is more powerful than WooCommerce's flat zone approach.
WooCommerce vs Shopify shipping terminology
| WooCommerce | Shopify equivalent |
|---|---|
| Shipping zone | Zone within a shipping profile |
| Shipping method (flat rate, free, local pickup) | Rate within a zone |
| Shipping class | Shipping profile (product-level profiles) |
| Free shipping coupon | Discount code with free shipping benefit |
| Table rate shipping plugin | Carrier-calculated shipping or third-party rate app |
Shopify shipping profiles explained
Shopify has two types of shipping profiles:
- General profile: Applies to all products not assigned to a custom profile. This is where your default shipping rates live.
- Custom profiles: Applied to specific products. Overrides the general profile for those products. Use for: oversized items, fragile freight, digital products (no shipping), age-restricted items requiring adult signature, or products shipped from a different location.
If a cart contains products from multiple profiles, Shopify merges the applicable rates — the customer sees rates that satisfy all profile requirements.
Recreating WooCommerce shipping zones
WooCommerce's UK shipping setup typically includes zones for: UK (mainland), UK (highlands and islands), Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Europe, and Rest of World. In Shopify:
- Open Shopify Admin → Settings → Shipping and delivery
- In your General profile (or a custom profile), click "Manage rates"
- Add zones: UK (includes England, Scotland, Wales), then add Scotland Highlands and Islands as a separate region within the UK zone if you want different rates, or create a separate zone
- Note: Shopify cannot split UK into mainland vs highlands at the postcode level natively. For postcode-based rates, use a carrier-calculated shipping app or ShipperHQ.
Recreating WooCommerce shipping methods
| WooCommerce method | Shopify equivalent |
|---|---|
| Flat rate: £3.99 | Custom rate: £3.99 |
| Free shipping (always) | Custom rate: £0 (or "Free shipping" title) |
| Free shipping (order over £X) | Custom rate with minimum order value condition |
| Local pickup | Pickup in person rate (separate section in Shopify) |
| Carrier calculated (DPD, Royal Mail) | Carrier-calculated shipping (requires Shopify account with carrier or third-party app) |
| Weight-based rates | Custom rate with weight condition (weight minimum/maximum) |
| Table rate (conditional) | ShipperHQ, Intuitive Shipping, or Advanced Shipping Rules apps |
Free shipping threshold
WooCommerce's free shipping coupon code approach is different from Shopify's built-in minimum order free shipping. In Shopify:
- Set free shipping on the rate itself with a minimum order subtotal condition (e.g. "Free if order is over £50")
- This appears automatically at checkout when the threshold is met — no coupon code needed
- For the "spend £X more for free shipping" progress bar on the cart: use a theme section or app (Free Shipping Bar by Hextom, most themes include this built-in)
Product weight and dimensional weight
Shopify calculates shipping weight from the product variant weight fields. If your WooCommerce products have weight set, k-sync imports this into Shopify's variant weight field. After migration:
- Verify units: WooCommerce weight may be in kg or g — confirm the unit set on each variant matches Shopify's configured weight unit
- Dimensional weight: Shopify doesn't natively calculate dimensional weight. If your carrier uses volumetric weight (length × width × height ÷ 5000), you need a carrier-calculated app (ShipperHQ handles this)
- Products missing weight: run a Shopify inventory export to identify variants with zero weight — these may cause incorrect carrier-calculated rates
Click and collect / local pickup
WooCommerce's local pickup is a shipping method. Shopify's local pickup is handled separately under "Pickup in person" in the shipping settings. After migration:
- Add your store address as a location in Shopify Admin → Settings → Locations
- Enable "Offer local pickup" for that location in the shipping settings
- Set a pickup ready time (e.g. "Ready in 2-5 business days")
- Shopify notifies the customer by email when their order is ready for collection
Post-migration shipping checklist
- General shipping profile: all zones recreated with correct rates
- Custom shipping profiles: oversized/fragile/digital products assigned correctly
- Free shipping threshold rate configured with minimum order condition
- Local pickup configured and assigned to correct location
- Product variant weights populated and in correct unit (kg)
- Test checkout: UK standard, UK express, international — verify correct rates shown
- Test free shipping threshold: add item just below and just above threshold
- Age-restricted products assigned to profile requiring adult signature (if applicable)
- Digital products assigned to a no-shipping profile (rate: free, no carrier rates)
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