Rules engine

Overview

The rules engine lets you define conditions that modify shipping behaviour at checkout. Rules can hide or show specific couriers, add surcharges, apply discounts, or set fixed shipping prices — all based on the contents of the customer’s cart or their delivery address.

Rules are evaluated in priority order, and the first matching rule wins. This gives you fine-grained control over the shipping options your customers see.

Rule conditions

Each rule is triggered by one or more conditions. The available condition types are:

Condition	Description	Example
Postcode	Match on the delivery postcode or a range of postcodes.	Free shipping to postcodes 2000–2099
State	Match on the delivery state (NSW, VIC, QLD, etc.).	Disable express couriers for WA deliveries
Weight	Match on the total cart weight (kg).	Add a $10 surcharge for orders over 50kg
Cost	Match on the cart subtotal (AUD).	Free shipping on orders over $150
Product SKU	Match on specific product SKUs in the cart.	Use a fixed shipping price for bulky items
Quantity	Match on the total number of items in the cart.	Flat-rate shipping for single-item orders

Tip

You can combine multiple conditions in a single rule. For example, “free shipping to NSW postcodes when the cart total exceeds $200” uses both Postcode and Cost conditions.

Rule actions

When a rule’s conditions are met, one or more actions are applied:

Action	Description
Hide courier	Remove a specific courier from the checkout options.
Show only courier	Show only the specified courier(s), hiding all others.
Add surcharge	Add a fixed dollar amount or percentage to the courier’s quoted price.
Apply discount	Reduce the quoted price by a fixed amount or percentage.
Set fixed price	Override the courier’s quoted price with a fixed amount.
Free shipping	Set the shipping price to $0 for matching couriers.

Creating a rule

1. Open the rules settings

   In your Shopify admin, go to Apps → Transdirect → Rules.

2. Add a new rule

   Click Add Rule. Give the rule a descriptive name (e.g. “Free shipping over $100 to metro areas”).

3. Set the conditions

   Choose one or more condition types and enter the matching values. For postcode ranges, use a hyphen (e.g. 2000-2099). For multiple values, separate with commas.

4. Define the action

   Select the action to apply when the conditions are met. Configure the action parameters (e.g. surcharge amount, fixed price, or which couriers to hide).

5. Set the priority

   Assign a priority number to the rule. Lower numbers have higher priority. When multiple rules match, the highest-priority rule is applied.

6. Save the rule

   Click Save. The rule takes effect immediately for new checkout sessions.

Rule priority

Rules are evaluated from highest priority (lowest number) to lowest priority. When a customer’s cart and delivery address match multiple rules, only the highest-priority rule is applied.

Priority	Rule	Action
1	Free shipping to postcode 2000	Set price to $0
2	$5 surcharge for NSW	Add $5 surcharge
3	Hide express for orders under 5kg	Hide express couriers

In this example, a delivery to postcode 2000 would get free shipping (priority 1), even though the NSW surcharge rule (priority 2) also matches.

Note

Review your rule priorities carefully when adding new rules. A high-priority rule can override other rules you expect to apply.

Bulk import rules

For stores with complex shipping requirements, you can import rules in bulk via CSV rather than creating them one at a time.

1. Download the template

   From the Rules settings page, click Export to download a CSV template with your existing rules (or an empty template if you have none).

2. Fill in the rules

   Open the CSV in a spreadsheet application and add your rules. Each row represents one rule with columns for name, conditions, action, and priority.

3. Import the CSV

   Upload the completed CSV file through the Import button on the Rules settings page. Existing rules with the same name will be updated; new rules will be created.

Caution

Importing rules will overwrite any existing rules that share the same name. Export your current rules as a backup before importing.

Common rule examples

Free shipping on orders over $150

• Condition: Cost greater than $150
• Action: Free shipping
• Priority: 1

Flat-rate shipping to remote postcodes

• Condition: Postcode in range 0800–0899 (NT remote)
• Action: Set fixed price $25
• Priority: 2

Disable express for heavy orders

• Condition: Weight greater than 30kg
• Action: Hide courier (express services)
• Priority: 3

Surcharge for bulky product SKU

• Condition: Product SKU equals BULKY-001
• Action: Add surcharge $15
• Priority: 2

Next steps

• Manage courier settings to control which couriers are available and how they are displayed
• Configure order boxing to optimise packing for multi-item orders