To make only FedEx ground shipping free, use a shipping discount that targets rates by name: choose Choose specific rates, add Ground and Home Delivery as wildcard matches, and set them to Free. Shopify’s own free shipping discount makes every eligible rate free, FedEx Standard Overnight included. Its only rate control is “Exclude shipping rates over a certain amount”, which filters by the rate’s price, not by service. Shopify notes that this setting is unrelated to order amounts. RM: Advanced Free Shipping discounts any rate Shopify shows at checkout, including live FedEx rates from third-party carrier-calculated shipping, so the ground service is free and the express services keep their price. It costs $9.90 USD every 30 days, with a 7-day free trial, billed by Shopify.

What the customer gets

In this example, FedEx ground shipping is free over $99. The rate names and prices are illustrative, because live FedEx rates change with the parcel and the address. Depending on your setup, a home address may be quoted as FedEx Home Delivery and a business address as FedEx Ground, so this discount covers both names.

  • A $110 cart to a home: the rates are FedEx Home Delivery $14.20, FedEx Express Saver $26.75, FedEx 2Day $33.10 and FedEx Standard Overnight $61.40. Home Delivery drops from $14.20 to $0. The rest stay full price. The customer pays $110 with Home Delivery, or $110 + $33.10 = $143.10 with 2Day.
  • A $110 cart to a business: FedEx Ground is $12.60, and it drops to $0. The customer pays $110 with Ground.
  • An $85 cart to a home: it’s under $99, so nothing changes. The customer pays $85 + $14.20 = $99.20 with Home Delivery.

Set it up

  1. In the app, click Create Shipping Discount. Under Discount method, choose Automatic discount, and enter a Title such as “Free FedEx Ground over $99”.
  2. In Conditions, click Add condition. Keep Cart total, set Is at least and enter 99.
  3. In Discount setup, set Delivery type to Shipping and Which rates to Choose specific rates.
  4. In the rate search, type Ground and choose Add “Ground” (wildcard match).
  5. Type Home Delivery and choose Add “Home Delivery” (wildcard match). Both keywords now show under the search.
  6. Set Discount value to Free.
  7. Click Create discount.

Typing Express in the rate search shows the rates Express and Express Overnight, plus an Add "Express" (wildcard match) option, with Discount value Free

The screenshot shows a search for Express. For this offer, add Ground and Home Delivery instead.

Copy the names from your checkout

A wildcard matches any rate whose name contains your text, ignoring upper and lower case, so “FedEx Ground®” still matches Ground. A rate picked from the list has to match its checkout name exactly. Run a test checkout to a home address and to a business address, note the FedEx service names you see, and use keywords from them.

Variations

  • Free ground and $15 off FedEx 2Day: open the ⋯ menu on Discount setup, choose Add delivery discount, add a 2Day wildcard and set Fixed Amount Off 15. On the $110 cart, 2Day drops from $33.10 to $18.10.
  • Free ground and 2Day for $20: in that second delivery discount, choose Fixed Price 20 instead. 2Day drops from $33.10 to $20.00.
  • Free ground, but not on very costly parcels: tick Exclude rates over a certain amount and set the Maximum eligible rate, such as 40.
  • Free ground for VIP customers only: add Customer tag Contains VIP. See free shipping for VIP customers.

Good to know

  • If you also show UPS or USPS rates, use a more specific keyword. Ground also matches “UPS Ground” and “USPS Ground Advantage”. Type the FedEx part as it appears at checkout instead, such as FedEx Ground.
  • To keep express services full price, avoid broad keywords. FedEx matches every FedEx service, and Express matches “FedEx Express Saver”.
  • To fix a ground rate that isn’t discounted, check its name at checkout and use a wildcard keyword.
  • To make whichever rate is cheapest free, use Cheapest shipping rate instead. See free cheapest shipping rate.
  • To test it, turn on Test mode and check out with the shipping first name ABC123. Try carts at $98 and $99.

Install RM: Advanced Free Shipping from the Shopify App Store.