Feature

Shipping Automation Rules

Stop making the same shipping decisions over and over. v2 adds 11 new conditions, 9 new actions, nested AND/OR groups, and a simulator that previews rule matches against your last 100 orders before you flip the switch. Define rules once and ShipWave handles carrier, service level, packaging, holds, signatures, and EDI routing automatically — for every order.

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95%

Fewer Manual Decisions

Rules handle carrier and service selection

<1s

Rule Evaluation Time

Per order, across all active rules

Unlimited

Rules Per Account

Layer conditions for complex workflows

17+

Condition Types

v2 adds residential, LTV, postal regex, hazmat

Benefits

Why Businesses Choose This Feature

Eliminate Repetitive Decisions: Every order that matches a rule is handled automatically. Your team no longer needs to look up carrier preferences, check weight thresholds, or remember which service level to use for high-value orders. Rules encode your shipping policy so it executes consistently every time.
Reduce Shipping Errors: Manual shipping decisions lead to mistakes — wrong carrier, wrong service level, missing insurance on expensive items. Automation rules enforce your policies without relying on human memory, reducing costly errors like under-insured shipments or missed signature requirements.
Scale Without Adding Headcount: As your order volume grows from 50 to 500 to 5,000 orders per day, your shipping rules scale with you. The same rules that handle ten orders handle ten thousand. No additional training, no new hires, no process documentation that gets outdated.
Nested AND/OR Logic: Combine conditions with nested AND/OR groups, not just flat lists. Build rules like "(weight > 50 lb OR has_dangerous_goods = true) AND (destination_state IN CA, OR, WA)". Drag conditions into groups visually. The flat rule lists you got from legacy ship platforms are out — real branching logic is in.
Simulate Before You Activate: Click "Simulate" on any rule (or a stack of rules) to preview which of your last 100 orders would have matched, what actions would have fired, and which would have been overridden by a higher-priority rule. No more "we activated a rule on a Friday and missed three days of orders because the conditions were wrong."

How Shipping Automation Rules Work

Define Your Conditions

Set the criteria that trigger each rule: order weight, destination zone, item SKU, order value, store source, or any combination. Stack multiple conditions for precise targeting.

Choose Your Actions

Specify what happens when conditions match: assign a carrier, select a service level, apply a package preset, add insurance, require a signature, or flag for hazmat handling.

Rules Run Automatically

When an order arrives, ShipWave evaluates it against your rules in priority order. The first matching rule applies its actions instantly — ready for one-click shipping or fully automated fulfillment.

The Complete Guide to Shipping Automation Rules

Conditions: Telling ShipWave When a Rule Applies

Every automation rule starts with one or more conditions that define which orders it should act on. ShipWave supports six core condition types that cover virtually every shipping scenario. Order weight conditions let you route heavy packages to carriers with better freight rates — for example, sending anything over 50 pounds to UPS Ground instead of USPS, which has strict weight limits. Destination zone conditions match orders by state, zip code range, country, or carrier zone, so you can route West Coast orders to OnTrac for cheaper regional delivery while keeping East Coast shipments on USPS. Item SKU conditions target specific products, which is essential for items that need special handling — lithium batteries that require hazmat labels, oversized items that need freight service, or fragile products that should always ship with extra insurance. Order value conditions trigger actions based on the total dollar amount, letting you add signature confirmation on orders above $200 or require insurance on anything over $100. Store source conditions differentiate between orders from different sales channels, so your Shopify orders can use different shipping defaults than your eBay or Amazon orders. Finally, item count conditions let you trigger multi-box workflows when an order contains more items than a single package can hold. You can combine any number of these conditions with AND or OR logic to create rules as specific as you need.

Actions: What Happens When a Rule Matches

Once an order matches a rule, ShipWave executes one or more actions automatically. The most common action is carrier assignment — forcing an order to a specific carrier based on your business logic. A rule might assign all orders under one pound to USPS First-Class (the cheapest option for lightweight items) while routing heavier packages to UPS Ground. Service level assignment works alongside carrier selection to pick the exact shipping speed. You might default domestic orders to Ground service but automatically upgrade to Priority when the destination is in a remote zone where Ground takes seven or more days. Package preset auto-apply eliminates manual dimension entry by matching orders to your saved box sizes. When an order contains a single small item, the rule applies your "Small Box" preset. When it contains three or more items, it switches to the "Large Box" preset. Insurance rules protect your business by automatically adding declared value coverage when the order total exceeds a threshold you define — no more forgetting to insure a $500 item because the warehouse team was rushing through orders. Signature requirement rules ensure high-value deliveries are not left on doorsteps, reducing theft claims and chargebacks. Hazmat flagging automatically applies the correct handling instructions and carrier restrictions for items containing lithium batteries, flammable materials, or other regulated goods. Each rule can combine multiple actions, so a single rule might assign UPS Ground, apply the "Medium Box" preset, add $300 of insurance coverage, and require an adult signature — all triggered by one set of conditions.

Priority, Conflicts, and Rule Management

Rules execute in priority order from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions match an incoming order wins, and its actions are applied. This priority system gives you precise control over edge cases. Place your most specific rules at the top and your broadest catch-all rules at the bottom. For example, you might have a rule at priority one that routes all orders containing SKU "LITHIUM-BATT" to UPS Ground with hazmat handling, regardless of weight or destination. At priority two, a rule sends all orders over $500 to FedEx with signature required and insurance. At priority ten, a catch-all rule assigns USPS Ground Advantage to everything else. If an order contains a lithium battery AND is worth over $500, the higher-priority hazmat rule takes precedence — ensuring the battery gets proper handling even though it also qualifies for the high-value rule. ShipWave lets you reorder rules by dragging them in the dashboard, and you can enable or disable individual rules without deleting them. The rule testing feature lets you select any existing order and see which rule it matches, what actions would be applied, and why — making it easy to debug unexpected behavior before it affects real shipments.

Real-World Automation Strategies

The most effective shipping automation setups layer three to five rules that cover the vast majority of orders. A common strategy for a mid-volume e-commerce brand looks like this. Rule one handles hazmat: any order containing battery SKUs goes to UPS Ground with hazmat documentation. Rule two handles high-value orders: anything over $300 gets FedEx Ground with signature required and insurance matching the order value. Rule three handles lightweight orders: packages under one pound go to USPS First-Class for the lowest cost. Rule four handles regional optimization: orders shipping to California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona use OnTrac for cheaper same-region delivery. Rule five is the catch-all: everything else goes to the cheapest available Ground service via rate comparison. With these five rules in place, roughly 95% of orders are fully automated — the correct carrier, service, package, insurance, and signature settings are applied the moment an order syncs from your store. Your team only needs to intervene on the small percentage of orders that fall outside normal patterns, like custom bundles or international shipments to restricted countries. This approach transforms shipping from a per-order decision into a set-it-and-forget-it system that gets faster as your catalog and volume grow.

Expanded Conditions in v2

v2 unlocks 11 new condition types that go far beyond weight and destination. Residential vs. commercial lets you route business addresses to ground services and residential addresses to last-mile specialists. Custom fields lets you match on any order metadata your store writes (gift message present, B2B flag, marketing source). Customer LTV matches on aggregate customer value — auto-upgrade VIP customers ($500+ lifetime spend) to expedited shipping without a coupon code. Postal regex lets you match on zip-code patterns (e.g. `^9[0-2]` for SoCal, `^100[0-9][0-9]` for Manhattan) for surgical routing. has_dangerous_goods and has_battery let you flag any order containing a hazmat-tagged SKU without enumerating every SKU. product_type matches on product taxonomy from Shopify (Electronics > Scooters), so a rule can apply to a whole category rather than a SKU list. Other v2 conditions include is_first_order, has_gift_wrap, ship_by_date_within (urgency-based routing), and order_age_hours (escalate late-cutting orders to a faster service automatically). Combine these with nested AND/OR groups and your rule engine matches the precision of an enterprise OMS.

New Actions in v2

Beyond carrier and service assignment, v2 adds 9 new actions. set_packaging applies a specific packaging profile (poly mailer vs. corrugated vs. branded box) so your fulfillment team grabs the right material from the wall. hold_until_date stalls a shipment until a specified date — useful for pre-orders, scheduled releases, and avoiding weekend transit. set_dry_ice flags an order for dry-ice packing and applies the correct hazmat documentation. set_signature_required toggles signature confirmation independent of carrier (adult signature vs. direct signature). apply_preset stacks a saved Quick-Ship preset (carrier + service + box + insurance) as a single action. assign_to_user routes an order to a specific user's queue for manual review without slowing the rest of the fleet. set_pickup_required tags an order for a scheduled pickup window rather than a counter drop-off. skip_auto_ship excludes an order from auto-ship cron entirely, parking it for human review. enforce_edi_routing_guide pulls the customer's vendor-routing-guide JSON and forces carrier/service/labels per their compliance rules — essential for B2B orders going to big-box retailers where a wrong carrier costs you a chargeback.

The Rule Simulator

Every new or edited rule gets a "Simulate" button. Click it and ShipWave runs your draft rule (and the surrounding active rules in priority order) against your last 100 orders. The simulator returns: how many orders matched the new rule, how many were intercepted first by a higher-priority rule, what actions would have fired, and a side-by-side diff of the existing fulfillment plan vs. the simulated plan. You can drill into individual matched orders to confirm they're the right ones. Once the simulation looks right, click "Activate" to flip the rule live. This kills the most common failure mode in rule engines: a poorly-scoped condition that quietly misroutes thousands of orders because nobody tested it against real data.

ShipWave Automation Rules vs. Manual Shipping Decisions

See why rule-based automation outperforms manual carrier and service selection at every scale.

Feature	ShipWave	Manual Process
Carrier selection	Automatic based on weight, destination, value	Employee picks carrier each time
Service level assignment	Rule-based: Ground, Priority, Express by condition	Guesswork or single default for all orders
Package preset application	Auto-applied by SKU, weight, or item count	Manually entered per order
Insurance coverage	Automatically added above value threshold	Often forgotten on high-value orders
Signature requirements	Enforced by rule for high-value/restricted items	Inconsistently applied
Hazmat handling	Auto-flagged by SKU with correct carrier routing	Relies on employee product knowledge
Time per order	Under 1 second (automated)	1-3 minutes of manual decisions
Error rate	Near zero — rules execute consistently	Increases with volume and fatigue
Scalability	Same rules handle 10 or 10,000 orders	Requires more staff as volume grows

Automation Rule Capabilities

Build rules as simple or complex as your shipping workflow demands.

If/then logic with multiple conditions per rule (AND/OR grouping)
Carrier assignment: automatically select USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, or regional carriers
Service level assignment: Ground, Priority, Express, Overnight based on conditions
Package preset auto-apply based on order weight, item count, or SKU
Insurance rules: require coverage above configurable order value thresholds
Signature requirement rules for high-value or restricted items
Hazmat handling flags for batteries, chemicals, and regulated products
Priority ordering: rules execute top-to-bottom, first match wins
Store source filtering: different rules for Shopify, eBay, Etsy, Amazon orders
Rule testing: preview which orders match before activating

Who Uses Shipping Automation Rules

High-Volume E-Commerce

Brands shipping hundreds of orders daily use rules to eliminate manual carrier selection entirely. Every order is routed to the optimal carrier and service level the moment it syncs from Shopify, eBay, or Amazon.

Multi-Channel Sellers

Sellers on multiple marketplaces need different shipping strategies per channel. Rules let you use Economy shipping for eBay orders, Priority for Shopify orders, and FBA-compatible routing for Amazon — all automated.

Hazmat & Regulated Products

Businesses selling batteries, chemicals, or regulated goods use SKU-based rules to ensure every restricted item ships with the correct carrier, handling flags, and documentation — eliminating compliance risks.

High-Value Goods

Jewelry, electronics, and luxury brands use value-based rules to automatically add insurance and signature requirements above dollar thresholds, protecting against theft and chargebacks.

Regional Fulfillment

Businesses with warehouses in multiple regions use destination-based rules to route orders to the nearest fulfillment center and assign regional carriers for faster, cheaper last-mile delivery.

Subscription Box Companies

Subscription brands with predictable box sizes and weights use rules to auto-apply the correct package preset and carrier for every shipment, enabling fully hands-off monthly fulfillment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many automation rules can I create?

There is no limit on the number of automation rules per account. You can create as many rules as your workflow requires. Most businesses find that three to five well-structured rules cover 90-95% of their orders, with a catch-all rule handling the rest.

Can I combine multiple conditions in a single rule?

Yes. Each rule supports multiple conditions combined with AND or OR logic. For example, you can create a rule that matches orders over $200 AND shipping to California AND containing a specific SKU — all three conditions must be true for the rule to trigger.

What happens if no rule matches an order?

Orders that do not match any rule proceed through the normal shipping workflow. Your team can manually select the carrier, service level, and package settings as usual. You can also create a low-priority catch-all rule to handle any orders that slip through your more specific rules.

Can I test rules before activating them?

Yes. The rule testing feature lets you select any existing order and preview which rule it matches, what actions would be applied, and why. This lets you verify your rules work correctly before they affect live orders.

Do rules work with Quick Ship and batch shipping?

Yes. Automation rules are evaluated whenever an order is processed — whether through one-click Quick Ship, batch shipping, or manual label creation. Rules pre-fill the carrier, service, and package settings so Quick Ship can execute with a single click.

Can I set different rules for different stores or sales channels?

Yes. Store source is one of the available condition types. You can create rules that apply only to orders from Shopify, only to eBay orders, or only to Amazon orders — giving you full control over channel-specific shipping strategies.

How do rules handle priority and conflicts?

Rules execute in priority order from top to bottom, and the first matching rule wins. You control the priority by reordering rules in the dashboard. This means more specific rules should be placed above general catch-all rules to ensure edge cases are handled correctly.

How does the simulator work?

Click "Simulate" on any draft or active rule and ShipWave evaluates the rule (in the context of all your other rules in priority order) against your most recent 100 orders. The result is a per-order breakdown: which rule would have fired, what actions would have applied, and a side-by-side diff against the actual fulfillment plan. You can spot-check individual orders, see how many would have been re-routed, and confirm the simulation matches your intent before you flip the rule live. This catches off-by-one condition mistakes — like an `>=` that should have been `>` — before they affect real shipments.

What new conditions does v2 add?

v2 adds 11 new conditions: residential vs. commercial address, custom order fields (any metadata your store writes), customer LTV, postal-code regex matching, has_dangerous_goods, has_battery, product_type (Shopify product taxonomy), is_first_order, has_gift_wrap, ship_by_date_within, and order_age_hours. Combine them with nested AND/OR groups to build rules as precise as you need.

What new actions does v2 add?

v2 adds 9 new actions: set_packaging (poly vs. corrugated vs. branded), hold_until_date (delay until a specific date), set_dry_ice, set_signature_required, apply_preset (stack a saved Quick-Ship preset), assign_to_user (route to a queue), set_pickup_required (schedule carrier pickup), skip_auto_ship (park for human review), and enforce_edi_routing_guide (apply a B2B customer's vendor routing guide). Stack as many as you need in a single rule.

Can I use nested AND/OR groups?

Yes. Drag conditions into AND or OR groups visually. Build rules like "(weight > 50 lb OR has_dangerous_goods = true) AND (destination_state IN CA, OR, WA)" without writing JSON. There's no depth limit — nest groups inside groups as needed.

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