To give staff and ambassadors free shipping, tag them in Shopify, for example Staff or Ambassador, then create an automatic shipping discount with Customer tag Contains and both tags in that one condition. Tagged customers who sign in at checkout get free shipping with nothing to type. If they’d rather not sign in, give them a private code limited to a customer segment instead. Shopify’s own free shipping discount can be limited to customer segments, but it has no customer tag condition and makes every eligible rate free. RM: Advanced Free Shipping reads the tag at checkout and lets you choose the rates, for example free Express for staff. It costs $9.90 USD every 30 days, with a 7-day free trial, billed by Shopify.

What the customer gets

In this example the store has two rates: Standard $8.90 and Express $24.90.

  • Qualifies. A staff member tagged Staff signs in and checks out a $70 cart. Standard and Express are both free. They pay $70, even with Express.
  • Doesn’t qualify. The same staff member checks out as a guest. A guest has no tags, so with Standard they pay $70 + $8.90 = $78.90.
  • Doesn’t qualify. A signed-in customer without either tag pays the same $78.90.

Set it up

  1. In Shopify admin, open each staff member’s and ambassador’s customer profile under Customers and add the tag Staff or Ambassador. See Shopify’s guide to using tags.
  2. In the app, click Create Shipping Discount.
  3. Under Discount method, choose Automatic discount. New discounts start on Discount code, and the method can’t be changed later. Enter a Title such as “Team free shipping”. Customers see it at checkout.
  4. In Conditions, click Add condition and choose Customer tag. Keep Contains.
  5. Type Staff and press Enter, then type Ambassador and press Enter. Contains matches a customer with any of the tags.
  6. In Discount setup, set Delivery type to Shipping, Which rates to All shipping rates and Discount value to Free.
  7. Click Create discount.

A Customer tag condition set to Contains, with the tag VIP added

The screenshot shows the tag VIP. Type your own tags in its place.

The code alternative

A code suits staff and ambassadors who check out as guests:

  1. Create a new discount and keep Discount method on Discount code. Enter a code such as TEAMSHIP.
  2. Under Customers, choose Specific customer segments and pick a customer segment of your staff and ambassadors. Build it in Shopify admin under Customers → Segments, for example from the same tags. Shopify matches segments by the email or phone number entered at checkout, so guests with the right email qualify.
  3. Leave Conditions empty, and set Discount setup to All shipping rates and Free.
  4. Optionally, under Maximum discount uses, tick Limit number of times this discount can be used in total.

If the code is shared, someone outside the segment who enters it doesn’t get the discount.

Variations

  • Different rewards for staff and ambassadors: create two discounts. One has Customer tag Contains Staff with All shipping rates and Free. The other has Customer tag Contains Ambassador with Choose specific rates, Standard selected, and Free. An ambassador who picks Express pays $70 + $24.90 = $94.90.
  • Half-price shipping for ambassadors: in the ambassador discount, set Discount value to Percentage and enter 50. Express becomes $12.45.
  • A code for an ambassador’s followers: create a separate code, such as AMYSHIP, with Cart total Is at least 50. Set Limit to one use per customer so each follower uses it once. Leave Customers on All customers.
  • Staff free shipping during a launch only: under Active dates, tick Set end date.

Good to know

  • To include staff who check out as guests, use the code alternative or a customer segment. Customer tags only match customers signed in to their account.
  • To cover several groups in one discount, put every tag in one Customer tag condition. Use one Customer tag condition per discount.
  • To exclude someone as well, use a Shopify customer segment that leaves them out.
  • To end the benefit when someone leaves, remove their tag in Shopify admin, or remove them from the segment.
  • “Is exactly” works the same as Contains for customer tags today, so either is fine.
  • To test it, sign in to a test customer account with the tag. In Test mode, also use ABC123 as the shipping first name. A code still needs the code entered.

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