Shipping Setup Best Practices
How to Set Up Shipping for Traditional Stores
Traditional stores with both a physical and digital presence should follow these steps if shipping is allowed in their industry:
Set up a prepayment method. Available options are Stripe, Square, Aeropay, and Kindtap. Apple/Google Pay requires Stripe.
Determine your shipping setup. There are two options:
Separate menus: Create a separate menu for shippable products. Provides a more differentiated experience between what can be shipped and what cannot.
Separate Categories: Create a separate category for shippable items. See Category Settings for more details.
⚠️ Warning: All items within any category included in a shipping zone will be eligible to be purchased and shipped. Only add items that you can truly ship.
Which Shipping Setup Option Should You Select?
This depends on your type of goods, industry, and preferences. For example:
Separate menus: A garden supply store sells decor and plants. Some items are shippable (lawn gnomes, small plants) while others are not (trees, boulders). Two separate menus provide the best user experience.
Separate Categories: A coffee shop has a few shippable categories (coffee bags, merch). Having separate categories is sufficient for a good user experience.
How to Set Up Shipping for Digital Brands
For companies without physical storefronts, set up a prepayment method and use Separate Categories for shipping — there is no need to use separate menus for digital-only brands.
How to Set Up Shipping for a Highly Regulated Company
Request permission from AIQ to set up shipping. Even if your primary industry is highly regulated, it may be possible to sell and ship secondary products like merch.
If approved, set up prepayment options. Check with your payment providers (e.g. Stripe's restricted businesses page) for any necessary approvals prior to setup.
Determine your shipping setup: separate shipping menus or shipping-enabled categories.
Should You Use Square or Stripe?
The choice between Square and Stripe depends on your company's specific needs. One key difference: Apple/Google Pay is only available through Stripe. Outside of that, both are excellent providers and there is no single best-practice recommendation.
Need Help?
If you need assistance, reach out to AIQ Support anytime via chat widget within your AIQ Dashboard.