Shipping zones and rates for the GCC on Shopify

You set delivery prices in Shopify under Settings > Shipping and delivery. Inside a shipping profile, you create a zone for each group of countries that share the same prices, then add rates to it: a flat price, prices by order amount, prices by weight, or rates calculated by a carrier or app. Each country also has to be in an active market, or shoppers there can't order. If you take cash on delivery, keep the rates simple and visible, because the delivery price is part of the amount the courier collects at the door.

What are shipping profiles, zones and rates?

• Shipping profile: Shopify calls it "a set of shipping rules for specific products and locations". Every store has a general profile that covers all products. You can add up to 99 custom profiles for products that need different rates, such as heavy or fragile items. Products that aren't in a custom profile use the general profile's rates.
• Shipping zone: a group of countries or regions that share the same rates. Within a profile, a country or region can only be in one zone.
• Rate: you add each rate with Add shipping option. It has a name the shopper sees at checkout and a price.
• Market: a country must be in an active market before shoppers there can order, even if it is in a zone with rates.

How should you group the six GCC countries into zones?

Put countries in the same zone when delivery to them costs you the same and takes about as long. Start from your courier's price list.

Can a zone be smaller than a country?

Shopify's help describes a zone as "a group of countries or regions", and its developer documentation describes a region as "a region that is used to define a shipping zone". In Shopify's address data, only two GCC countries have regions: the UAE (seven emirates) and Kuwait (six governorates). Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have no region field at checkout, so a zone there covers the whole country.

If you want a different price for some emirates, add the UAE to a zone and check whether the region picker lets you choose single emirates. Zones are built from countries and regions, not cities. A separate price for one city needs a carrier or app-calculated rate.

Which rate type should you use?

When you add a shipping option, Shopify offers four rate types:

For COD, the flat rate has one advantage: you can write the exact price on product pages and in your order confirmation. A shopper who knows the total before ordering has one less reason to refuse at the door. If you use ranges, leave Maximum empty on the highest range so no order falls outside them.

How do you add a GCC zone with rates?

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
2. In the Shipping profiles section, click the profile you want to change. Most stores only need the general profile.
3. In the Shipping zones section, click Add zone and type a name, for example "Saudi Arabia".
4. In the Regions section, select the countries and regions for the zone, then click Done.
5. Click Add shipping option. Enter the name shoppers will see, choose the rate type and enter the price.
6. To offer free shipping above an amount, select Offer free shipping and enter the minimum order amount.
7. Click Done, then Save.
8. In Markets, check that every country in the zone is in an active market.

How does free shipping affect COD orders?

A free-shipping threshold makes the total easy to understand. "Free delivery over AED 200" is one number the shopper can remember. But when a free-delivery COD order is refused, you have paid for delivery and collected no delivery fee, and you may pay for the trip back too. See what one refused COD order really costs to work out your own figure.

Shopify's rate types depend on the order's value, its weight or a carrier's quote. None of them depends on the payment method, so Shopify's shipping settings can't charge COD orders a different delivery price. If you are thinking about a COD charge, read should you charge a COD fee? first.

What should your GCC rate names say?

The rate name is what the shopper reads at checkout, so use it to answer their questions:

• Say how long delivery takes. Shopify's transit time feature, which shows a delivery time under the rate name, is only available for fulfillment locations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and the United Kingdom (checked 26 October 2026). If you ship from the GCC, put the time in the name, for example "Delivery in 2 to 4 working days".
• Name the place when prices differ by area. "Standard delivery, northern emirates" explains why the price is not the same as in Dubai.
• Check the Arabic checkout. Rate names are text you typed yourself, so look at how they appear on your Arabic checkout. See how to offer an Arabic checkout on Shopify.

If you sell in local currencies, Shopify shows rates in the shopper's currency automatically. Setting a flat rate in a local currency is only available to stores using Shopify Payments.

Do shipping zones decide where COD is offered?

No. Zones and rates set what delivery costs. They don't change which payment methods appear at checkout. If delivery to some areas costs you more and you want those orders paid online, you need a payment rule. Khaleeji COD can hide COD for UAE emirates and Kuwaiti governorates by code (for example AE-FU for Fujairah or KW-JA for Al Jahra) or for city names in any GCC country. See how to limit COD by emirate, region or city.

How do you test your GCC rates?

Shoppers only see rates after they enter an address, and Shopify shows the cheapest rate by default.

1. Start a checkout with an address in each GCC country you ship to, and in each emirate if you split the UAE.
2. Check that the right rates appear. A message that no shipping rate is available usually means the country or region isn't in any of your zones.
3. If you use order-amount or weight ranges, test a cart at the edge of each range and one above the highest range.
4. Go on to the payment step and check that COD shows or hides as you expect. To test as a particular customer, use how to test checkout payment rules with draft orders.