Shop settings
Shop > Settings is the shop's own screen: whether its pages exist, the Google Shopping feed, the checkout options, and everything about shipping. Other pages send you here a lot, so this is what is actually on it, top to bottom, and the two things that are deliberately somewhere else.
Shop pages
The shop needs a Shop page (the grid customers browse) and a Product page (one product's details). A site started as a shop has both; on any other site this block says whether they exist and creates both in one click. They are ordinary pages in the builder, so their heading, the text around the grid and the sections above and below are yours to style; the grid itself is drawn from your products.
Google Shopping
Your products can appear in Google Shopping's free listings. The block shows your feed address
(/products.xml on your site's address) with a Copy button: in Google Merchant Center, add
products from a file, choose to enter a link, and paste it. Google fetches the feed again on its own,
so new products and price changes follow without you doing anything. Listed: active products with a
price and an image, one entry per combination, a was-price shown as a sale. Services and gift cards
are left out. Shipping and tax are set once in Merchant Center itself; the feed does not carry them.
Checkout
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Shop email | Where new-order notifications go. Empty, your account address. |
| Terms & conditions URL | Linked at checkout. Required in most places before you sell to consumers. |
| Let customers create accounts | A My Account link in the site header, with sign-in, order history and saved addresses. Off, checkout is guest-only. Wishlists and the "who saved it" list need this on. |
| Let customers request returns and refunds | Customers can request a return from their order; a Returns & Refunds policy page is created; the Returns queue appears in the sidebar. Off, no returns module. |
Shipping
Four things stack here, and they interact:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Flat shipping rate | One price per order. 0 means shipping is free. The simplest thing that works. |
| Free shipping over | Orders at or above this amount ship free. A named rate with its own "free over" amount uses that instead. |
| Count the amount after discounts | On, a discount code that takes the order below the amount also takes the free shipping away. Off, the amount before codes counts. On protects your margin; off is more generous. Pick one deliberately rather than discovering it in a complaint. |
| Shipping rates | Named options the customer chooses between at checkout, Standard and Express say, each with its own price. With none, the flat rate is used. |
| Shipping zones | Different carriers and rates by destination. A zone names its countries (start typing to pick them, or add a Rest of world zone for everywhere else) and overrides the rates above for them. Each carrier in a zone charges a flat price, or Charge by parcel weight prices heavier orders more from your products' weights. |
| Offer local pickup | A no-delivery option at checkout. The customer pays no shipping and is not asked for an address. The right answer for a lot of food, florist and workshop businesses. |
A basket with nothing physical in it skips delivery entirely. A customer whose country no zone covers has no delivery option and cannot complete a basket of physical goods, so once you add zones, add a rest-of-world one, priced high if you like, rather than leaving countries uncovered.
The two things that are not here
- Currency and tax are on Project settings > Payments (the rate) and Business details (the currency), because they apply everywhere the site takes money: the shop, bookings, rental and restaurant orders all use the same base currency and tax rate. Regional rates and sales tax are on the Tax settings page, linked from both. See Accept payments with Stripe.
- Payment methods (card, cash, bank transfer, check) are on the same Payments page, for the same reason.
What the settings will not do
- Charge shipping on a download or a gift card. Nothing physical, no delivery step.
- Price shipping per product. Rates are per order, per named option or per zone, and by weight when you choose that. A product that needs its own rate is usually a zone or a named option.
- Apply a change to orders already placed. An order keeps the shipping it was quoted.
Frequently asked questions
Flat rate or zones? A flat rate while you post to one country. Zones the moment you ship abroad, because the gap between domestic and international postage is usually wider than your margin.
How do I offer standard and express? Two named shipping rates. The customer picks at checkout and the order records which.
Can I charge by weight? Yes, inside a zone: tick Charge by parcel weight on the carrier and enter brackets. Products need a weight for it to work; without one they count as the lightest bracket.
Where is the free shipping threshold measured? On the order total, before or after discount codes depending on Count the amount after discounts. Shipping itself is never part of the amount.
Do digital products ask for shipping? No. A basket with nothing physical in it skips delivery entirely.
Where are card payments configured? On the Payments page, with tax and the other methods. This page is shipping and checkout.
Why is my shop page missing? This page says whether the Shop and Product pages exist and offers to create them. If they exist but are not on the live site, publish them; see Publish your site.
Next steps
- Set up your shop - the setup in order.
- Add products
- Accept payments with Stripe
- Orders
Related reading
- Shipping options for a small online shop - how to price delivery without losing money on postage.
- Ways to get paid on your website - the payment side of the same checkout.