How to Create a Shipping Policy

A shipping policy describes how and when a business ships orders to its customers. A standard shipping policy for a small business covers shipping options and rates, shipping times, and processing times. 

It’s important to have a shipping policy on your website, especially for ecommerce businesses. Your policy is an opportunity to set expectations with customers for their orders, which creates a positive customer experience and builds trust in your business. 

Start your own policy with inspiration from our example below, and make sure to keep it updated as pricing or policies change.

What to include in a shipping policy

Depending on where your business operates, you may not be required to have a shipping policy. But having a clear policy helps your customers understand how much they’ll pay for shipping and how long shipping usually takes. When customers feel like you’re being transparent about your shipping policies, they’ll feel more comfortable buying from your store.

A shipping policy should include the following.

• Order processing times: Tell customers how long it takes you to fulfill an order and how often you ship. It’s common to take 3-5 business days to process an order. List any cutoff times, like “Orders placed after 5 PM ET on Friday will be processed on Monday.”

• Shipping methods: List the different shipping options or carriers you use and delivery times for each. Let customers know if they can expect a tracking number for their order.

• Shipping rates: List the rates for each shipping option. Mention if you offer free shipping only for certain shipping methods or if you have a minimum spend for free shipping.

• Shipping restrictions: Call out any restrictions to your shipping process. Do you support international shipping? If so, are customers responsible for import duties on international orders? Can you ship to P.O. boxes? 

• Local pick-up options: If you have a brick-and-mortar location, mention whether you offer in-person pickup. Customers may prefer to pick up to avoid shipping charges.

• Return policy summary: Give a summary of your return and refund policy and link to the full policy on your website.

Shipping policy tips

Keeping your shipping policy clear and concise will help customers easily find the information they need. 

• Make it easy to find. There are some common spots to link to your shipping policy, like your site footer. Think of other places it might be helpful to link to it, like customer emails.

• Create a skimmable page design. Consider organizing shipping details into a chart or under easy-to-skim headers. Make rows or separate lines for each shipping method, then list shipping speed and fees for each. 

• Highlight any service changes. Consider adding an announcement bar or pop-up to your homepage to let customers know about shipping interruptions or deadlines, like if shipments are paused while you’re on vacation or order-by dates for holidays.

Shipping policy example

Below is an example of a shipping policy to use as a starting point for your own.  This example is for an average online store, where the owner is either shipping orders themselves or fulfilling via an third-party logistics (3PL) partner.

“Please allow 3-5 business days for our team to process your order. Orders received after 5 PM ET will be processed on the next business day.

Shipping carrier: We typically ship via USPS and do not ship on U.S. holidays.

Shipping times: Once processed, orders shipped within the U.S. typically arrive within 7 business days. International orders typically arrive within 14 business days.

If there’s a delay in your order, please check the tracking information provided in your order confirmation email. We cannot be responsible for carrier or customs delays.

See below for our shipping methods and rates.

Have a problem with your order? Check out our FAQ and full return policy. We offer refunds and exchanges within 60 days of your original order date. 

Still have questions? Reach out on our contact page.”

Local delivery policies

If you’re a small business, you might want to have separate policies for local customers, whether you have a brick-and-mortar location or not. Shipping is faster and more affordable locally, so you may want to call that out in your shipping policy.

Or you can consider offering local pickup at your physical store, a market you attend regularly, or a public space, like a coffee shop or your work studio. 

*Note: These examples should not be taken as legal advice.

How to communicate your shipping policy

It’s best to have a standalone shipping policy page or a combined shipping and return policy page so it’s as easy to find as possible.

Link that policy page across your website and anywhere else you communicate with potential customers, including in your:

• Website footer: The footer is the section at the bottom of your website that stays the same from page to page, usually holding important links or contact information.

• FAQ page: An FAQ helps your customers find the answers they need without having to wait on a reply. You can include a short summary and link to the full shipping policy page.

• Product page: Shipping and returns will be top-of-mind for anyone browsing a product page. Add a very brief overview of shipping times and methods to your product description pages.

• Confirmation and shipping emails: Since customers tend to save these emails for reference, it’s helpful to link your shipping and return policies in the email footer.

• Marketing emails: Like a product page or confirmation email, these tend to reach customers when your policies are top-of-mind. 

• Social media profile: If you get a link in bio page for your social media accounts, it can be helpful to link your FAQ or to your policy directly so social shoppers can find details easily.  

Learn more about setting up shipping for your business

Ready to launch your online store?

This post was updated on April 4, 2024.