Shopify's shipping settings are profiles, zones and rates — a structure that handles 'different products ship differently' better than most sellers realise. The setup that matches Indian courier reality.
Profiles for product types
A shipping profile is a set of products + its own zones/rates — 'fragile ceramics' gets air-only zones, 'apparel' gets standard. Most single-category stores need one profile; mixed catalogues (apparel + glassware) split.
Zones mapped to courier geography
Your zones should mirror how carriers price: 'Maharashtra' (your state, regional), 'Rest of India' (national), 'Northeast + J&K + islands' (special-zone pricing). Each zone gets its own rate rule — flat rates to start, carrier-calculated when connected.
Rate types
Flat rate (you guess), price/weight-based tiers (you guess fancier), carrier-calculated (the courier quotes live at checkout). The tiered-flat setup works until the catalogue spans weights the tiers can't hold; carrier-calculated removes the guess.
Where Pakka Parcel plugs in
The app's checkout-rates feature presents live carrier quotes at checkout — the customer's pincode + parcel weight returns real prices from the panel. The 'what to charge' question answers itself; the margin-safe rate is the actual rate plus your buffer.
Pakka Parcel automates exactly this — the pipeline from order to AWB without the manual steps.
See how →The playbook
Build profiles per product type
Fragile/heavy/standard split where it matters.
Map zones to courier zones
State / national / special — matching the rate cards.
Start flat, move to calculated
Estimate-tables until live rates are enabled.
Enable checkout quoting
Live carrier prices at checkout = honest freight.
