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Managing Order Shipping Policies

Shipping policies let you create automation rules that control shipping instructions, such as assigning the shipping method and other order shipping details. Policies are built as condition–action pairs. When an order meets the conditions, the policy applies its actions.

Shipping policies are applied when an order is created, whether imported, uploaded, or created manually. Changes made to the order or its products afterward do not trigger policies to reapply.

Enabling Shipping Policies

Shipping policies were previously managed by Goflow Support. Whether you relied on default settings or requested custom rules, these policies were not visible.

Now, you can manage shipping policies directly in Goflow. Create policies at your own pace, and enable them on a per-store basis. You can prepare your policies in advance while continuing to use legacy Goflow-managed policies. When you're ready, toggle the Shipping Policies switch under store Manage Shipping to activate your user-managed policies.

Creating and Managing Shipping Policies

To create a new shipping policy, follow these steps:

  1. From the left sidebar, go to Directory › Stores and open a store.
  2. On the Shipping card, click Manage Shipping.
  3. Under Shipping Policies, click + Add Shipping Policy.
  4. Name - Give the policy a meaningful name. For example, use Tag HI for a policy that tags orders shipping to Hawaii.
  5. Conditions - Choose whether the policy applies to all orders or only to orders that meet specific conditions.
  6. Actions - Set one or more actions.
  7. Termination - Choose whether the policy is final or can be overridden.
  8. Active - Choose whether the policy is active or inactive.
  9. Click Save.

To edit a policy, click the policy and update its conditions or actions.

Copying Policies

Policies are created per store. To apply the same set of policies across multiple stores, copy them between stores. Follow these steps:

  1. From the left sidebar, go to Directory › Stores and open a store.
  2. On the Shipping card, click Manage Shipping.
  3. On the Shipping Policies card, click the three-dot menu.
  4. Select Copy from Other Store.
  5. Select a store from the list.
  6. To review what a policy does, click View Policy.
  7. Select one or more policies to copy.
  8. Click Copy Policies.

Policies that include channel-specific actions cannot be copied to other channels. For example, a policy that assigns Amazon Buy Shipping as the carrier cannot be copied to non-Amazon stores.

To copy policies as inactive, click the split arrow and select Copy as Inactive.

Creating Multiple Policies

One policy can execute multiple actions. For example, create a policy for orders shipping to Alaska or Hawaii that sets the shipping method to UPS 2nd Day Air, applies a Non-Contiguous tag, and excludes USPS from rate shopping.

Use multiple policies to apply different actions based on different conditions. For example, create one policy for heavy orders that sets the shipping method to LTL, another for medium orders that sets it to USPS Priority Mail, and a third for light orders that sets it to USPS Ground Advantage.

To create another shipping policy, click the + icon next to an existing policy. Policies are evaluated in order, from top to bottom.

When multiple shipping policies are in place, their conditions can overlap and their actions conflict. For example, one policy might assign USPS to orders shipping to HI, while another assigns FedEx to orders with a shipping charge. Which carrier should be assigned to an order that meets both conditions - an HI order with a shipping charge?

The outcome depends on policy order and each policy's termination option, which you set when creating or editing a policy. There are two main options:

In the example above, if both policies are set to Continue, the last matching policy wins. If either policy is set to Preserve, it takes precedence and blocks any later policy from overriding its actions.

A third termination option is Stop. In addition to preserve, it prevents any further policies from being evaluated.

Sorting Policies

If you have multiple policies, arrange them in a logical order. Policy order also determines how conflicts are resolved when multiple policies apply to the same order.

To rearrange policies, follow these steps:

  1. From the left sidebar, go to Directory › Stores and open a store.
  2. On the Shipping card, click Manage Shipping.
  3. On the Shipping Policies card, click the three-dot menu.
  4. Select Reorder Policies.
  5. Drag and drop the policies into the desired place.
  6. Click Save.

Deactivating Policies

Set shipping policies to Active or Inactive. Inactive policies do not apply to orders but remain saved for future use. Common use cases include:

To activate or deactivate a policy, toggle the Active switch when creating or editing a policy.

To permanently delete a policy, click the trash icon next to it and confirm the deletion.

Specifying Policy Conditions

Shipping policies can apply to all orders in a store, or only to orders that meet specific conditions. Conditions give you granular control over which orders a policy affects.

To specify conditions, follow these steps:

  1. While creating or editing a shipping policy, select Specific Orders.
  2. Click + Add Condition.
  3. Select a condition and define its operator and value.
  4. To add another condition, click the + icon.
  5. Select how conditions combine.

A condition consists of three parts:

For example, to target orders with two or more products, set the condition to Product Count, the operator to Greater than or equal to, and the value to 2. To target orders shipping to Hawaii or Puerto Rico, set the condition to Ship-To Address, the operator to Ships to, and the values to HI and PR.

Selecting a Policy Condition

Select from a wide range of conditions to precisely target which orders a policy applies to. Match orders based on size, value, destination, shipping requirements, and more.

Size - Physical characteristics of the order and its shipment.

For Box Length, Box Weight, and Box Volume, choose whether the condition applies to any box or all boxes in the shipment. For example, check if any box exceeds 70 lb, or if all boxes weigh at least 70 lb.

Value - Financial details of the order.

Specify the currency in your condition. If the order uses a different currency, the value is automatically converted based on the current exchange rate. For example, a condition for $400 USD also applies to orders of approximately €350 EUR.

Fulfillment - Shipping details and fulfillment instructions.

Other Attributes - Additional properties that describe the order and its contents.

For product tag, choose whether the condition applies to any product in the order or all products. For example, if any product is tagged Hazmat, assign a ground shipping method.

Selecting a Condition Operator

Operators define how a condition evaluates a property. There are three types:

Operator names are expressed in natural language and vary by condition type. For example, numeric conditions use greater than or less than, date conditions use before or after, and location conditions use ships to. This makes operators intuitive and easy to interpret based on the type of value being evaluated.

Understanding Missing Values

Some order properties are always present, such as the shipping address or product count. For these, you can use equality and comparison operators to evaluate their values.

Other order properties may be missing. For example, the store may not have provided a ship-by date, or Goflow may be unable to estimate the box count. Missing values are not treated as zero, so comparison operators do not apply. A missing ship-by date is not considered "before today", and an unknown box count is not "less than 1".

To handle missing values, use presence operators such as Is Set / Is Not Set or Is Known / Is Not Known. Check whether the ship-by date is not set, or if the box count is unknown. You can also check the inverse — for example, whether a ship-by date is set, regardless of its exact value.

Orders containing products with no weight defined, are not treated as having a weight of 0. A condition like "Weight less than 1" will not match these orders. To target them, use "Weight is unknown".

Combining Conditions

When a policy has multiple conditions, choose how they combine. Select Match all or Match any in the upper-right corner of the condition list.

All conditions within a policy share the same logic. You cannot mix AND with OR within one policy. If you do need to mix to create more complex conditions, create separate policies. For example, you have to create separate policies if you wish to exclude USPS for orders that meet either of these two rules:

  1. Order total over $300 and service level is 2-day or faster.
  2. Shipping charge over $25

Since these two scenarios use different logic, they cannot live within the same policy, as this table demonstrates:

OptionLogicOrder TotalService LevelShipping ChargeMatchDesired
Match allAND$300 2-day$25 YesYes
Match allAND$200 2-day$25 NoNo
Match allAND$300 2-day$0 NoNo
Match anyOR$300 2-day$25 YesYes
Match anyOR$300 3-day$0 YesNo
Match anyOR$200 2-day$0 YesNo

Setting Policy Actions

Select what the policy does when its conditions are met. You can apply one or more of the following actions: