FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy shipping with Shopify

This guide explains FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy (formerly called FedEx SmartPost) shipping and how you can handle FedEx Ground Economy shipping on your Shopify store using the Shopify Ship, Rate and Track for FedEx.

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What is FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy shipping (formerly called FedEx SmartPost)?

FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy is an adequate and economical shipping service for lightweight packages implemented to help merchants manage their shipping costs. It is an efficient shipping service used for deliveries to residential addresses across the US territories.

FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy is a part of the FedEx Ground network that can be acquired only on a contractual basis. This means that you will have to contact FedEx in order to enable the Ground Economy service on your FedEx account.

Understanding the FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy shipping process

As mentioned in the above section, FedEx Ground Economy is a contractual service. You can contact FedEx to enable Ground Economy on your account which will be based on your average daily shipping volume. FedEx creates a personalized shipping structure to get your packages from your store to its distribution points.

Once the packages are sorted based on the delivery areas at a FedEx facility, they are then transported using FedEx Ground shipping. When these packages arrive at the FedEx destination hub, they are moved to the USPS bulk mail center based on the delivery location. FedEx may move the packages to a USPS local post office depending on the locations as well.

Finally, USPS picks up the packages for delivery and delivers them to the final destination.

Features of FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy

• FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy service is available for locations within the U.S. It can deliver packages from and to any of the 48 states including Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. territories, P.O. boxes, and military APO, FPO, and DPO destinations. FedEx doesn’t offer Ground Economy services for international shipments.
• It delivers packages from Monday to Saturday mostly within 2-7 business days.
• Saturday delivery is possible by USPS without any FedEx surcharge.
• Each package for FedEx Ground Economy should have a maximum weight restriction of 70 Lbs. Also, each package should not cross the length of 130 inches in length plus girth.

Note:
In order to get the details regarding shipping rates and zones supported for Ground Economy, visit FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy rates and zones.

FedEx special services that are not offered with Ground Economy

Since the final delivery is done by USPS, FedEx cannot offer its complete list of special services for Ground Economy. Below is a list of FedEx special services that are not applicable to FedEx Ground Economy.

1. Collect On Delivery (C.O.D)
2. Money-back guarantee
3. Declared Value
4. Signature Proof of Delivery
5. Hazardous materials service
6. Evening or appointment delivery
7. Evening, appointment, or date-certain delivery
8. Redirect to hold at a FedEx location
9. Delivery redirects requested by the shipper

Fees and Additional shipping charges for FedEx SmartPost

Weight and dimensions restriction for FedEx SmartPost services

Weight: The maximum weight should be 70 lbs. for all FedEx SmartPost services, except for Bound Printed Matter (maximum weight is 15 lbs.)

Package Dimensions: For all FedEx SmartPost services, the package length, width, or height cannot exceed 60 inches. 

• For a package less than 1 lb. or a package greater than or equal to 1 lb., the dimensions of length plus girth (L + 2W + 2H) cannot exceed 130 inches. 
• Media Mail package dimensions of length plus girth (L + 2W + 2H) cannot exceed 84 inches. 
• Bound Printed Matter package dimensions of length plus girth (L + 2W + 2H) cannot exceed 108 inches.

Benefits of using FedEx SmartPost

Cheaper shipping cost is the reason why most business owners prefer using FedEx SmartPost. However, there are other potential benefits of using FedEx SmartPost.

Regular Pickup Options

FedEx SmartPost does not require out-of-the-box treatment for pickups or drop-offs. Shipments can be easily combined with a typical FedEx pickup service.

Easy Integration with eCommerce Platforms

The key idea behind managing large shipments is having SmartPost integrated with your shipping software. You can integrate FedEx SmartPost within your eCommerce platforms using:

1. WooCommerce FedEx Shipping Plugin
2. Shopify Ship, Rate and Track for FedEx 

Cost-effective Shipping Option

The most expensive part of the shipment is the last/final leg where the package is delivered by the USPS services. This makes up 28 percent of a shipment’s total costs — nearly 1/3rd of the overall shipping cost. With the help of SmartPost, this high cost is taken care of and FedEx has created a more cost-efficient option for sellers who ship large volumes of packages.

Saturday delivery

With FedEx SmartPost, most packages are handed over to USPS for the final leg of delivery. Delivery of packages over the weekend is made possible and this is an important benefit as weekend delivery normally balances the drawback of SmartPost being a slow service.

Shipping to multiple addresses 

On a regular day, FedEx does not deliver to P.O. boxes, depending on your business, this may or may not be a sticking point. It is good to remember that since SmartPost is a hybrid FedEx and USPS service. The flexibility to reach more geographic locations that regular FedEx services are unable to reach is one of the advantages of using FedEx SmartPost.

Setting up FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy using the Shopify Ship, Rate and Track for FedEx

Set up FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy under the account section

The first step is to set up FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy (formerly called FedEx SmartPost). To do that, head to App settings –> Account –> Enable FedEx SmartPost. Once you enable this, you will have the option to set up different aspects related to FedEx Ground Economy.

Indicia
Each mail item must be stamped with a postal imprint or “postal indicia.” The indicia tells the receiving postal administration that proper postage or a postal permit is available to allow the items to enter the domestic mail delivery system. Choose the indicia from the drop-down list.

Hub ID
FedEx Ground Economy manages 25 hubs that are positioned accordingly to handle outbound and returns volume efficiently. You can select the required option from FedEx Ground Economy Hub drop-down list.

Ancillary Endorsement
Any package that is undeliverable or refused will be the responsibility of the customer. For shipments delivered by USPS, FedEx offers Ancillary Service “Endorsements,” which the customer can utilize to instruct the USPS on the disposition of packages that are undeliverable or refused.

The Customer shall pay any and all applicable postage due resulting from the use of such Endorsements. Specify an endorsement type from the following:
– ADDRESS CORRECTION
– CARRIER LEAVE IF NO RESPONSE
– CHANGE SERVICE
– FORWARDING SERVICE
– RETURN SERVICE

Enable the FedEx Ground Economy service

Once FedEx Ground Economy is set up under the account section, head to Settings --> Rates --> Carrier Services. Ensure that FedEx Ground Economy (formerly called FedEx SmartPost) is enabled under this section as shown below.

Note:
FedEx Ground Economy only supports Custom boxes and not FedEx Boxes. If you are using Box packing method, ensure that you only enable custom boxes for the packaging process.

Display FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy rates at Shopify checkout

Once you have set up FedEx Ground Economy, add a product to the cart, and proceed to checkout. You will be able to see the FedEx Ground Economy service at checkout as shown below. Here, FedEx 2 Day, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx First Overnight is enabled along with FedEx Ground Economy (formerly called FedEx SmartPost).

Print FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy shipping labels in Shopify

After the order is placed, head to the Shopify orders section. Now, select the required orders and click on “Auto-generate Labels”.

This will generate the FedEx Ground Economy labels that will be available under the shipping section within the app. You can click on the “print icon” to print the label as shown below.

Given below is a sample FedEx Ground Economy shipping label.

If you have any queries regarding setting up FedEx SmartPost/Ground Economy shipping with the Shopify Ship, Rate and Track for FedEx, do contact PluginHive support.