80% of online shoppers expect free shipping. That's not a preference — it's a baseline. If your Shopify store charges for shipping and your competitor doesn't, you lose the sale before the customer even reads your product description.
Shipping costs are the #1 reason shoppers abandon carts. With cart abandonment hovering around 70% across ecommerce, removing that friction point isn't optional anymore. Shopify free shipping setup is simpler than most merchants expect — four methods, no code, under 10 minutes.
4 Ways to Set Up Free Shipping on Shopify
Shopify supports four free shipping models. Pick the one that fits your margins before you touch any settings.
- Free shipping on all orders — simplest to set up, best for stores where shipping costs are already baked into product prices
- Free shipping above a minimum spend — the most popular option, encourages larger carts
- Free shipping via discount code — useful for promotions, email campaigns, or VIP customers
- Free shipping on specific products or collections — works when only certain items have margins that support it
Most stores start with a minimum spend threshold. It protects your margins while giving customers a clear incentive to add more to their cart. 58% of shoppers add extra items specifically to hit a free shipping threshold.
Method 1: Free Shipping on All Orders
This is the fastest setup. You're telling Shopify to charge $0 for shipping on every order, regardless of size.
- Go to Settings → Shipping and delivery in your Shopify admin
- Under Shipping profiles, click on General shipping rates (or your custom profile)
- Find the shipping zone you want to edit (e.g., Domestic) and click Edit
- Delete any existing paid shipping rates in that zone
- Click Add rate
- Name it "Free Shipping" and set the price to $0
- Leave the conditions blank (no minimum, no maximum)
- Click Done, then Save
Repeat for each shipping zone where you want free shipping. If you ship domestically and internationally, you'll need to set this up in both zones separately.
The risk here is obvious: if your average shipping cost is $8 and your product margin is $12, you're giving away two-thirds of your profit. This model only works if you've already padded your prices to absorb shipping, or if your margins are wide enough to handle it.
Method 2: Free Shipping Above a Minimum Spend (The Most Common Setup)
This is what most Shopify stores use. Customers get free shipping when their cart hits a dollar amount you choose. Below that amount, they pay standard rates.
- Go to Settings → Shipping and delivery
- Click on your shipping profile and find the zone to edit
- Make sure you have a paid rate already set up (e.g., "Standard Shipping — $5.99")
- Click Add rate
- Name it "Free Shipping"
- Set the price to $0
- Click Add conditions
- Select Based on order price
- Set the minimum price to your threshold (e.g., $50) and leave the maximum blank
- Click Done, then Save
At checkout, Shopify automatically shows the free option when the cart total meets your threshold. Customers below the threshold see only the paid rate.
How to Pick Your Free Shipping Threshold
Set your threshold 20–30% above your current average order value (AOV). If your AOV is $45, a threshold between $54 and $59 works well. This pushes customers to add one more item without setting the bar so high they give up.
The median free shipping threshold across ecommerce sits at $64 in 2025. But your number should come from your own data, not an industry average. Check your AOV in Analytics → Reports → Average order value, then multiply by 1.25. For a deeper breakdown, see our free shipping threshold calculator.
Free shipping orders typically produce 15–20% higher order values than orders without the offer. That extra revenue usually more than covers the shipping cost you're absorbing.
Method 3: Free Shipping via Discount Code
Discount codes give you more control. Instead of offering free shipping to everyone, you choose who gets it — email subscribers, first-time buyers, or customers in a specific campaign.
- Go to Discounts in your Shopify admin
- Click Create discount
- Select Free shipping as the discount type
- Choose Discount code and enter your code (e.g., FREESHIP)
- Under Shipping rates, select whether the discount excludes rates over a certain amount (useful if you don't want to cover express shipping)
- Set Minimum purchase requirements if you want a minimum cart value
- Under Customer eligibility, choose all customers or specific segments
- Set a usage limit if this is a limited promotion
- Set start and end dates
- Click Save discount
You can also create an automatic free shipping discount that applies at checkout without a code. Follow the same steps but select Automatic discount instead of Discount code in step 4. Automatic discounts appear in the cart without the customer doing anything.
One thing to watch: Shopify only allows one automatic discount at a time. If you already have an automatic percentage or dollar-off discount running, adding automatic free shipping will conflict. In that case, use a discount code instead.
Method 4: Free Shipping on Specific Products or Collections
Some products have high enough margins to support free shipping. Others don't. Shopify lets you offer free shipping selectively using shipping profiles.
- Go to Settings → Shipping and delivery
- Under Shipping profiles, click Create new profile
- Name it something like "Free Shipping Products"
- Click Add products and select the products or collections that qualify
- Add your shipping zones
- For each zone, add a single rate: name it "Free Shipping" and set the price to $0
- Click Save
Products in this profile ship free. Everything else follows your general shipping rates. This works well for high-margin items, digital products with a physical component, or promotional bundles where you want shipping included.
Show Customers How Close They Are to Free Shipping
Setting up free shipping is half the job. The other half is making sure customers know about it. A cart that's $8 away from the threshold converts much better when the customer can see that gap.
- Announcement bar: Add a banner at the top of your store — "Free shipping on orders over $50." Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize, add an announcement bar section, and enter your message.
- Cart page messaging: Many Shopify themes include a built-in free shipping progress bar in the cart. Check your theme settings under Cart page. If yours doesn't have one, free apps like Hextom's Free Shipping Bar can add it.
- Product page mention: Add a line near your Add to Cart button noting the free shipping threshold. This nudges customers before they even reach the cart.
Stores that display free shipping progress bars see cart values climb because customers self-select into spending more. The threshold becomes a target, not a barrier.
The Margin Math: Can You Actually Afford Free Shipping?
Free shipping isn't free for you. Before you turn it on, run this quick calculation.
Take your average shipping cost per order and divide it by your average order value. Under 10%? Free shipping is almost certainly worth it — the conversion lift covers the cost. Between 10% and 15%, test it for 30 days and compare revenue before and after. Above 15%, raise product prices slightly or use a threshold instead of blanket free shipping.
For example: if your average shipping cost is $6 and your AOV is $55, that's 10.9%. A conditional threshold at $65 would push your AOV up while limiting free shipping to orders that can absorb the cost.
If you're running a COD store, the math gets tighter because you're already absorbing risk from returns and failed deliveries. EasySell lets you add partial payments to your order form, which reduces that risk — pairing a small deposit with free shipping gives customers an incentive to buy while filtering out low-intent orders.
Start With a Threshold, Then Optimize
If you've read this far and you're not sure which method to pick, go with Method 2. Set a conditional threshold 25% above your current AOV, add an announcement bar, and run it for 30 days. Compare your AOV, conversion rate, and total revenue against the previous 30 days.
Most stores find that the AOV increase more than pays for the shipping they absorb. From there, you can experiment — lower the threshold to boost conversions, raise it to protect margins, or test discount codes for specific customer segments. The data will tell you what your customers respond to.