Why Free Shipping Disappeared at Shopify Checkout (and How to Ask Sidekick)

A customer reaches checkout. The cart is $48. Free Shipping is gone. They add one more item to cross $50. Free Shipping reappears, but now Standard and Express are hidden. Why?

Shipping options at Shopify checkout are dynamic. Rates come from Shopify shipping profiles, carrier integrations, and apps. But what customers see depends on display rules—hide, show-only, rename, reorder, de-dupe—that layer on top. When a method disappears or changes, it's not always obvious which rule caused it.

This is exactly the kind of question Shopify Sidekick can now answer for you—in plain language, in your admin, without digging through settings or support articles.

What Shopify Sidekick Knows (and What It Didn't)

Shopify Sidekick is the AI assistant built into your admin. It already knows your shipping zones, rates, and profiles. It can tell you which rates are configured and where they apply.

But until now, Sidekick couldn't see the display layer—the rules that hide, rename, or reorder methods at checkout. If you asked "Why is Free Shipping missing under $50?" Sidekick would tell you about your zones but couldn't explain that a display rule was hiding it based on cart total.

That's changed. With ShipWeaver for Shopify Sidekick, Sidekick now composes both layers—Shopify's rate logic and ShipWeaver's display rules—in a single answer, then links directly to the rule so you can review or edit it.

How It Works

ShipWeaver connects to Shopify's admin AI. When you ask Sidekick a shipping question, it pulls your shipping configuration from Shopify and your display rules from ShipWeaver. Sidekick combines them and explains what's happening at checkout.

You don't need to remember that ShipWeaver exists. Just ask Sidekick your question. If a ShipWeaver rule is involved, Sidekick will tell you and provide a link to jump directly into the app to review it.

Questions You Can Ask

Here are some examples of questions Sidekick can now answer:

• What shipping options do customers see at checkout?
• Why is Free Shipping missing under $50?
• Is Express renamed?
• Which rules affect Economy for Canada?
• What's live vs preview-only?
• Show me the rule that hides overnight.

Sidekick will explain the rate (zone, price, conditions), the display rule (hide, show-only, rename, reorder, or de-dupe), and whether the rule is live or still in preview testing.

Example: Composed Answer

Live vs Preview

ShipWeaver rules can be set to Live or Preview. Live rules apply to all customers. Preview rules apply only to testers (your email or customers tagged shipweaver).

When you ask Sidekick about shipping options, the answer will specify whether a rule is live or preview-only. This helps you understand whether customers are seeing the rule or if it's still being tested.

What Sidekick Finds

Sidekick can identify rules by:

• Shipping method name or title (e.g. "Free Shipping," "Express," "Standard")
• Action (hide, show-only, rename, reorder, de-dupe)
• Cart threshold (e.g. "over $50," "under $75")
• Destination (e.g. "for Canada," "US only")
• Product tags or customer tags

When multiple rules exist, Sidekick will explain which rule applies first (based on priority order) and link to the relevant rule in ShipWeaver so you can review or adjust it.

What ShipWeaver Does (and Doesn't) Do

ShipWeaver only changes how shipping options display at checkout. It does not:

• Calculate or set shipping prices
• Buy shipping labels or track packages
• Hide "Pickup in store" (that's controlled by Shopify's local pickup settings)
• Create, pause, or edit rules from Sidekick chat (you edit rules in the ShipWeaver app)
• Replace or modify Shopify shipping profiles

ShipWeaver knows the display overlay: hide, show-only, rename, append text, reorder, sort by price, and de-duplicate. It applies these actions when conditions match—cart total, destination, customer tags, product tags, scheduled rules, and more.

Shopify already knows the rates, zones, and profiles. ShipWeaver connects those rates to your display rules, and Sidekick explains it all in one answer.

When to Use This

Ask Sidekick when:

• A customer reports a shipping option is missing or behaving unexpectedly
• You can't remember which rule is affecting a specific method
• You want to verify what's live vs preview before publishing a rule
• You're onboarding team members and need to explain how shipping display works
• You're troubleshooting checkout behavior without leaving admin

Note: Sidekick will answer shipping questions based on your current configuration. It won't call ShipWeaver for every shipping question—only when the question involves display rules or when Sidekick determines ShipWeaver context would be helpful.

Getting Started

To use this feature, you need ShipWeaver installed. ShipWeaver is free for early adopters and available in the Shopify App Store.

Once installed, Sidekick will automatically have access to your ShipWeaver rules. You don't need to configure anything—just ask your question in Sidekick, and the answer will include both Shopify's rate logic and ShipWeaver's display rules when relevant.

If you don't have ShipWeaver installed, Sidekick will continue to answer shipping questions based on Shopify's native configuration (zones, rates, profiles).

Key Takeaways

• Shopify Sidekick now understands both rate logic (from Shopify) and display rules (from ShipWeaver).
• You can ask Sidekick why a shipping method is missing, renamed, or reordered, and get a composed answer that explains both layers.
• Sidekick tells you whether rules are live or preview-only, and links directly to the rule in ShipWeaver for editing.
• You don't need to remember ShipWeaver's name—just ask Sidekick your shipping question naturally.
• ShipWeaver only changes display, not rates or prices. Shopify still controls the underlying shipping configuration.