Rate Shopping Profiles

What a profile is

A rate shopping profile is a named bundle of rate-selection logic you can reuse. Instead of writing the same conditions in five different rules ("cheapest UPS or FedEx, must arrive by Wed, must be Ground or faster"), you save it once as a profile and reference it everywhere. Profiles live in Admin → Settings → SmartRate → Profiles.

The 5 modes

Every profile has a mode that decides how rates are ranked:

cheapest — lowest price wins, full stop.
cheapest_meeting_sla — lowest price that arrives by an SLA date (e.g. "2 business days from order").
fastest — earliest predicted delivery date, ignoring price.
best_value — a ShipWave-computed score weighing price vs. days saved (configurable weights).
preferred_carrier_with_fallback — use the named carrier if it is within a dollar tolerance of cheapest, otherwise fall back.

Example: "Amazon Prime: cheapest meeting 2-day"

For Amazon orders flagged as Prime, you need to meet a 2-day delivery commitment. Create a profile:

Name: Amazon Prime: cheapest-meeting-2-day
Mode: cheapest_meeting_sla
SLA: 2 business days from ship date
Confidence: 85th percentile (override default if needed)
Excluded services: USPS Ground Advantage (too slow for Prime)

Assign this profile to the Amazon channel and Prime orders will auto-select the cheapest rate that hits the 2-day window.

Example: "Bulky: prefer FedEx with $5 fallback"

For heavy or oversized items, FedEx Home Delivery is usually the smoothest experience. Create a profile:

Name: Bulky: preferred FedEx with $5 fallback
Mode: preferred_carrier_with_fallback
Preferred carrier: FedEx
Tolerance: $5.00
Fallback: cheapest_meeting_sla

If FedEx is within $5 of the cheapest rate, FedEx wins. Otherwise the profile falls back to cheapest-meeting-SLA. Apply this profile to any rule that matches bulky line items.

Per-channel defaults

In Admin → Stores, each connected channel has a Default rate shopping profile dropdown. Set it once and every order from that store uses that profile unless a more specific rule overrides it. Common pattern: assign cheapest_meeting_sla to Shopify orders and a tighter profile to Amazon Prime.

Profile precedence

When multiple sources specify a profile, the most specific one wins: per-order override > automation rule profile > per-channel default > workspace default. The order detail page shows which profile was actually used and why.

FAQs

Can I test a profile before applying it broadly?

Yes. Open any order, click "Compare rates", and pick the profile from the dropdown at the top of the rates panel. The list re-ranks immediately. No commits required.

What does best_value's scoring formula look like?

best_value computes price_weight * normalized_price + speed_weight * normalized_days. The default weights are 0.7 / 0.3. You can tune them per profile in the editor.

Can a profile force a specific service?

Yes. Set the "Locked service" field (e.g. "USPS Priority Mail"). When locked, the mode is ignored and the locked service is always picked — useful for compliance items that must ship one specific way.

Do profiles work without SmartRate enabled?

Modes that depend on delivery predictions (cheapest_meeting_sla, best_value) require <a href="/help/smart-rate-shopping-overview">Smart Rate Shopping</a> to be on. cheapest, fastest, and preferred_carrier_with_fallback work either way.