In Zest, you create and manage every shipping profile, zone, and rate directly in your Zest dashboard, and the right shipping method travels automatically to your Shopify orders.
This guide covers the full shipping setup: creating profiles and rates, assigning them to products and variants, handling regional pricing, and using Concierge's flexible tools for custom and high-touch orders.
Before you start:
Have your Zest partner dashboard open and ready.
Know the regions you ship to and your approximate flat rates for each.
Have your fulfillment system (e.g., Shopify, ShipStation) handy — you'll need to confirm the exact shipping method codes it expects.
Overview: What Are Shipping Profiles and How Do They Work
A shipping profile is a set of rules that defines where you ship and how much it costs. Each profile contains one or more zones — geographic areas like "Continental US" or "Alaska & Hawaii" — and each zone has a flat rate and a shipping method.
How it all connects:
Every product in your catalog must have a shipping profile assigned.
When a customer places an order, Zest looks at the recipient's address, matches it to the right zone in the product's profile, and applies that zone's rate and shipping method.
The shipping method's value is what gets pushed to your Shopify order — your fulfillment team uses it to assign the actual carrier and service level.
Important: Zest shipping is standalone.
Shipping profiles are not imported from Shopify and do not sync with it. You configure everything fresh in Zest.
Zest does not connect to real-time carrier rate calculators (FedEx, UPS, ShipperHQ, etc.). All rates are flat fees you set yourself based on your average shipping costs.
Your Primary profile is your safety net. Every new product you import automatically uses your Primary shipping profile. Keep the Primary profile configured with all the regions you ship to — if a product is imported without a specific profile, it will rely on the Primary. You can edit the Primary profile but cannot delete it.
Creating and Configuring a Shipping Profile
Step 1: Set up your shipping methods
Shipping methods are the building blocks of your zones — each zone uses one. Create them before setting up zones.
In your Zest dashboard, go to Settings > Shipping.
Scroll to the Shipping methods section and click Add.
Enter a Name — the label you'll see in Zest (e.g., "Standard Shipping").
Enter a Value — the code your fulfillment system expects to receive.
Click Submit.
Name vs. Value — why they're different.
The Name is your internal label in Zest.
The Value is what gets pushed to Shopify as the shipping method code.
Your fulfillment system uses the Value to route orders, so it must match exactly — including capitalization and spacing. If your system expects Ground Shipping, enter it exactly that way. Check an existing Shopify order to see the shipping method code your system currently uses.
If your Name and Value are identical, they'll display as one in Zest. If they differ, Zest will show the Value as a separate code badge so you always know what's going to Shopify.
Tip: You can use generic names like "Standard Shipping" in Zest and let your fulfillment team determine the actual carrier (UPS, FedEx, etc.) based on their own routing rules.
A shipping method cannot be deleted while it is assigned to any shipping zone. Remove it from all zones first, then delete it.
Step 2: Create a shipping profile
In Settings > Shipping Profiles, click Add profile.
A modal titled "Create a custom shipping profile" will appear. Enter a Name for the profile — this is internal only, customers never see it (e.g., "Standard Domestic," "Heavy Items").
Click Submit. You'll be taken directly to the profile's settings page.
Step 3: Add zones and rates
A zone defines a geographic area, its flat shipping rate, and which shipping method applies.
On the profile's settings page, click Add rate.
Enter a Zone Name (internal, e.g., "Continental US - Standard"). Zest will suggest a name automatically.
Select the Shipping method for this zone.
Enter the flat rate Price (in USD).
In the Geography section, choose the countries and states/provinces this zone covers.
Use Quick select continental US to instantly select all 48 contiguous states plus Washington, D.C.
Alaska and Hawaii are not included in the continental US quick-select — add them as separate zones if needed.
Click Save.
Repeat to add as many zones as needed (e.g., a separate zone for Alaska/Hawaii, Canada, international destinations).
Zones within the same profile cannot overlap. If two zones in the same profile cover the same state, Zest will return an error. Design your zones so each geographic area is covered by exactly one zone per profile.
State-level granularity only. Zest supports shipping zones at the country and state/province level — there is no zip code or carrier-zone-level pricing. If you need zip code-specific rates (e.g., blocking remote area deliveries, offering local delivery pricing), configure a generic shipping method in Zest and apply the detailed routing rules downstream in your fulfillment system.
Assigning Shipping Profiles to Products and Variants
Every product must have a shipping profile. New imports default to your Primary profile automatically.
Assigning a profile to a product
Go to Products in your Zest dashboard.
Open the product you want to update.
In the product's shipping settings, select the appropriate Shipping Profile from the dropdown.
Click Save.
Assigning a profile to a specific variant
If individual variants have different shipping needs — for example, a larger, heavier variant that costs more to ship — you can assign profiles at the variant level.
Go to Products in your Zest dashboard.
Open the product you want to update.
For each variant, select the appropriate Shipping Profile from the dropdown.
Click Save.
A variant-level profile takes precedence over the product-level profile.
Profile priority order (most specific wins):
Storefront-level variant override.
Storefront-level product override.
Variant-level profile.
Product-level profile.
Overriding a profile for a specific storefront
Want to offer free shipping (or a different rate) on a private client storefront, without changing the product's default everywhere else? You can assign a different profile per storefront.
Go to your Storefront in Zest and open the product listings.
Find the product and click, which will open a modal labeled Manage Shipping Profiles.
Select the override profile for this storefront.
Click Save.
This override only applies to orders placed through that storefront — the product's default profile everywhere else is unchanged.
Setting Up Regional Rates
Alaska and Hawaii
The Quick select continental US option covers the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. — Alaska and Hawaii are not included. To add them:
In your shipping profile, click Add Zone.
Name it (e.g., "Alaska & Hawaii").
Select your shipping method and enter your rate (typically higher than your continental rate).
In the Geography section, select United States, then choose Alaska and Hawaii only.
Click Save.
International destinations
Add a new zone to your profile.
In the Geography section, select the countries you ship to.
Set the shipping method and rate.
Click Save.
Note: International shipping restrictions can also be bypassed on a per-order basis in Concierge (see the next section).
State-specific rates
You can create zones that cover just one or a few specific states — for example, a California-only rate or a Northeast zone.
Add a new zone.
In Geography, select United States, then choose only the states you want.
Set the rate and method.
Click Save.
Watch out for accidentally excluded states. If a state is unintentionally deselected from a zone that's meant to cover it, orders from that state will fail — no zone will match them. After configuring your profiles, review each zone's geography to confirm no states are accidentally missing.
Shipping in Concierge: Profiles, Flat Rate, and Overrides
Concierge is built for high-touch, custom orders — and that extends to shipping. You have full control over how each order ships.
Flat rate vs. shipping profile
When creating or editing a Concierge draft, you'll see two options in the Shipping section:
Flat rate — Enter a custom price and select a shipping method directly. Use this for special pricing, VIP clients, or any situation where a standard profile doesn't apply.
Shipping profile — Select one of your existing profiles to apply its zones and rates. When you apply a profile, Zest takes a snapshot of it at that moment. If the original profile is updated later, Zest will show a warning: "The current version of this shipping profile has changed since you last selected it." Click View latest version to review and apply any updates.
Flat rate and shipping profile are mutually exclusive per draft. Choose one mode per Concierge draft.
Handling recipients outside your shipping zones
If a recipient's address falls outside all zones in the profile — for example, an international address to a country you don't normally ship — you can bypass the restriction for that individual recipient.
In the Concierge draft, find the recipient with the address that can't be covered.
Click Bypass for this address.
If bypass pricing hasn't been set on this draft yet, a modal will appear. Enter the Shipping method and Shipping price to use for bypassed addresses.
Click Bypass.
Important: Bypass pricing applies to all recipients you mark for bypass on that draft — not just one. Once set, any additional bypassed addresses will use the same price and method.
Storefront orders vs. Concierge orders at a glance
| Storefront orders | Concierge orders |
Profile assignment | Set at product/variant level | Selected per draft |
Rate customization | Fixed by profile zones | Flat rate or profile |
Out-of-zone overrides | Not available per order | Bypass per recipient |
Shipping method | Determined by zone | From flat rate or zone |
Troubleshooting Common Shipping Issues
A recipient gets an error saying their address isn't covered
This means no zone in the product's assigned profile covers that address.
To fix:
Find the product's shipping profile in Settings > Shipping.
Review which zones and geographies are configured.
Add a zone to cover the missing region.
For a one-off Concierge order, use Bypass for this address instead of modifying the profile.
Check your Primary profile. If the product was imported without a specific profile, it's using the Primary. Make sure the Primary covers all your shipping destinations.
A state that should be covered is producing errors
The state may have been accidentally deselected from a zone's geography.
Open the shipping profile in Settings > Shipping.
Review each zone's geography and confirm the state is selected.
Add it back if missing and click Save.
The wrong shipping method is appearing on Shopify orders
The shipping method code on your Shopify order comes from the Value field of your Zest shipping method — not the display name.
Confirm the Value matches exactly what your fulfillment system expects, including capitalization and spacing.
If you recently edited the method, check that the Value wasn't accidentally changed.
Compare against an existing Shopify order to verify the expected format.
I can't delete a shipping method
A shipping method can only be deleted if it's not in use by any zone. Zest will show you exactly which zones are blocking the deletion.
To resolve:
Go to each zone listed in the error and change it to a different shipping method.
Once no zones reference the method, return to Settings > Shipping and delete it.
A Concierge draft shows a "profile has changed" warning
When you applied a shipping profile to the draft, Zest snapshotted it at that moment. If the original has been updated since, you'll see the staleness warning.
To resolve:
Click View latest version to see what changed.
If the changes affect this draft (e.g., rate or zone adjustments), select the updated profile to re-apply it.
If the order is already in progress and you want to honor the original pricing, you can leave the snapshot as-is.
I need ZIP code-level shipping rates
Zest supports state-level shipping zones only — ZIP code granularity is not available. For ZIP code-specific needs, configure a generic shipping method in Zest and handle the granular routing downstream in your fulfillment system (e.g., ShipStation, Shopify Shipping).
Shipping insurance doesn't adjust based on order value
Zest does not natively support tiered shipping insurance based on order value. As a workaround, manually calculate the insurance cost for high-value orders and apply it as a custom flat rate in a Concierge draft.
I deleted a profile and products got reassigned unexpectedly
When a non-primary shipping profile is deleted, all products that used it are automatically reassigned to your Primary profile. Go to Products, filter by the Primary profile, and reassign those products to the correct profile.