Shopify Pickup Points Explained: How to add pickup points to your Shopify store

Picking up the parcel from pickup point
Author Łukasz Spryszak
Updated:
2024-12-28
Reading time:
13 minutes read
Category:
Blog

With online stores just a click away, today’s shoppers want deliveries that keep up with their whirlwind days and their busy lifestyles. That’s why, it’s no wonder Shopify pickup points have become a top choice for order deliveries, putting together convenience, flexibility and cost savings for both, store owners and customers at the same time. To help you make the most of it, I’ll cover why pickup points can be a game-changer for your business and how to set up pickup points right in your Shopify store. Ready to dive in?

Keep reading to find out:

  • What are pickup points?
  • Why you should add pickup points to your Shopify store?
  • Benefits of providing pickup points in Shopify store
  • How to set up pickup points on Shopify and how it changes depending on which Shopify plan you are on?
  • Best practices for offering Shopify pickup points

But before we get into details, first things first—let’s take a step back and explain…

What are pickup points?

They are easy-to-reach places where customers can pick up their online orders when it suits them best, instead of waiting for home delivery. They could be carrier-operated sites, local businesses partnered with delivery services, post offices, grocery stores or parcel lockers people can access 24/7.

Shopify’s built-in pickup options

The good news is, Shopify already comes with a built-in options allowing customers not only to choose in-store pickup, but also to select preferred pickup points at checkout. The catch is, the in-store pickup alone may fall short to reach the wider audience you are aiming for. On top of that, the option to select popular carrier’s pickup points at checkout is still only available in a few countries. What’s more, it’s also limited exclusively to the Shopify Plus plan—the most expensive tier that many businesses just cannot budget for. But guess what? There is a way to handle this, and I’ll show you how in a moment. So, let’s face it – here’s…

Why you should add pickup points to your Shopify store

Juggling a busy lifestyle, balancing family and work, followed by tons of errands and plenty of to-dos. Feel like you’ve been there? I bet you have. With such a packed schedule, the last thing you want is to be tied down waiting for deliveries or missing packages. How about playing it by your own rules and picking up your order when and where it’s most convenient for you? Makes sense, right? It’s not just us—millions of customers feel the same way, and this is exactly where pickup points come to play.

Access points, drop-offs, pickup points, parcel lockers or PUDO, no matter what each carrier calls them, are no longer just a nice-to-have option. A recent study by Savanta and HubBox reveals that 68% of urban residents and 71% of hybrid workers favor pickup points for their online deliveries. This confirms that they’ve become a standard that customers expect, and providing them isn’t just a way to stand out anymore; it’s a must-have if you want to keep up in the market. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some more advantages they can bring to your Shopify store:

Benefits of providing pickup points in Shopify store

Flexibility and convenience

Shoppers today want the ability to receive their orders on their own terms. Pickup points give them the freedom to grab their packages whenever it’s most convenient—whether that’s on their way home from work, during a lunch break, or while running errands. Granting such flexibility proves your store is built around nowadays shopping habits, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

Cost savings

With Shopify pickup points, both store owners and customers can cut down on costs. Store owners can streamline logistics and lower their shipping expenses, while customers save on delivery fees. This win-win approach reduces costs on both sides and keeps the shopping much more budget-friendly.

Reduced delivery delays and package theft

Pickup points help avoid common delivery issues, like delays or missed drop-offs, and reduce the risk of packages being mishandled or stolen from doorsteps. Customers get peace of mind knowing their orders are waiting at a secure spot, especially in urban areas where porch theft is a concern.

Improved customer experience

Since we all have those go-to carriers we trust more, offering multiple carriers’ pickup points in Shopify store and giving people an option to choose their favorite one makes the shopping more personal. Not only it levels up the customer experience and builds loyalty, but also leads to increased conversions and sales as a result.

Broader customer reach and accessibility

Pickup points make your Shopify store accessible to more customers, no matter where they live. Whether they’re in busy cities, quiet suburbs, remote areas, simply not home during regular delivery windows, or just prefer not to wait for standard delivery, pickup points give you the chance to extend your reach and tap into new markets.

Okay, we’ve spent enough time on the ‘why’ and covered why offering pickup points in Shopify store is a must—now it’s time to focus on the ‘how’. So, let’s break it down…

How to set up pickup points on Shopify

Remember how I mentioned that the built-in Shopify pickup points don’t quite hit the mark and come with limitations that make them tough to use for a lot of merchants? Luckily, there’s a game-changing app that not only gets around those limitations, but also brings a lot more to the table.

Octolize Pickup Points PRO is a true gem, shining bright here in every way that counts. It lets you offer your customers pickup points of 30+ most popular carriers worldwide and decide which countries they are available in. What’s more, you get full control over shipping costs with custom rules and free shipping thresholds. All of this in a single app, with no need to sign a thing or create any user accounts. It comes with a 7-day free trial, giving you a full week to test out every feature and make sure it meets your expectations, hassle-free. And the cherry on top? It works across all Shopify plans, including Shopify Basic, adapting to your current plan’s capabilities, so you can add pickup points to your Shopify store, no matter what plan you’re on.

Octolize Pickup Points PRO Shopify app

So, why put it off any longer? Just click the app name link above to head straight to the Shopify App Store and hit ‘Install’ button there to bring Octolize Pickup Points PRO app to your store.

Getting to grips with the right tools

Once installed, the app will automatically detect your Shopify plan and adapt to its features and limitations, like a puzzle piece fitting into its place. Curious how it works in action? No need to ask twice. Let me break it down with some real use-case examples, and let’s see how app’s features change depending on the Shopify plan your store is on.

Imagine your store ships products across the United States and Canada, and you want to offer…

UPS Pickup Points on Shopify Basic

You’re just starting with online sales, but you already got a grasp of your customers’ preferences and know they trust the reliability and accessibility of UPS pickup points. But you also know that Shopify Basic, while a great choice for getting started, comes with limitations compared to higher-tier plans. One of the biggest challenges here is the lack of Carrier Calculated Shipping (CCS) and access to Carrier Service API, which prevents you from displaying third-party shipping methods and their rates at checkout. Sounds like an obstacle you can’t get past? You may think it’s a dead end, but not this time—Octolize Pickup Points PRO app has you covered. Instead of the checkout, it lets your customers…

Choose UPS Access Points from a map in the cart

Selecting pickup point from the map in the Cart of Shopify store

With such a smart workaround, it bypasses Shopify Basic’s checkout limitations, so they won’t hold you back anymore. This means that you can offer the option to choose pickup points one step earlier—in the cart—keeping it in line with the shopping flow and providing the flexibility your customers are looking for at the same time. All you need to do is a quick 3-steps setup: add the pickup points selector widget to the cart page template in theme editor, add UPS pickup points for the country you want them be available for and then, pair them with the Shopify shipping rates they should use for cost calculation. Simple as that.

Multiple carriers’ pickup locations on a map

What’s even better, is you’re not stuck with just one carrier. You can add multiple carriers for a specific country and all their pickup points will show up on one map. This way, your customers can stick with the carrier they trust most or just go with what’s closest to where they are. Convenience at its best, isn’t it? Here is how DHL and UPS pickup points look like together on one map in the cart when shipping to Canada:

UPS and DHL pickup points displayed on a map when shipping to Canada

I’m sure you would agree that this feature definitely opens up the door to more possibilities for stores on the Shopify Basic plan. It’s a game-changer for those who want to offer a lot more to their customers without having to jump to a higher tier and upgrading their plan.

But hold on—there’s still more to uncover, since we’ve got more up our sleeve. Let’s move on now to a different case and take a look at…

FedEx pickup points at checkout on Shopify & Shopify Advanced

You’ve been running your store for a while now, and things are really taking off—you have even upgraded to Shopify Advanced. You’ve built strong relationships with your customers, always listening and responding to their needs. They trust you and recently, they’ve been asking about FedEx pickup points. Yet here we are, facing the similar challenge and bumping into Shopify’s plan limitations once again. While being on a higher plan now, you already have the Carrier Service API access and can use the third-party Carrier Calculated Shipping Rates. However, there’s still a hiccup—this time the problem is you still can’t give the customers the option to select pickup points from a map at checkout. Yet, the Octolize Pickup Points PRO app steps up to save the day once again, letting you display the…

Pickup points list at checkout

…instead. Once the customer enters their delivery address, the list of the suggested nearby pickup points from the carriers you’ve selected shows up below right away. This lets them choose their preferred pickup location with no hassle, whether they are on mobile or desktop.

While on Shopify or Shopify Advanced, the app lets you show not only FedEx pickup points, but also the PUDOs from any other carriers you make available for each country. You can even set a minimum number of points from specific carrier to make it as customized as you need to meet your customers’ preferences. For example, you can set it so the customer always sees 6 nearby PUDOs. At least 3 of those will always be FedEx, while the remaining 3 are filled with pickup points from other carriers closest to the customer’s address. Smart move, don’t you think?

PUDO types, delivery cost rules and free shipping threshold

But wait, there’s more! The app version for plans with Carrier Service API access, like Shopify, Shopify Advanced, and higher, packs in extra features and takes it up a notch. You can now decide which types of pickup points to offer and use advanced tools to manage how shipping costs to those points are calculated.

The whole setup is even easier than on the Shopify Basic plan, with no need to add widgets or match pickup points with rates anymore. This time, you can create your own custom shipping cost calculation rules instead, making, e.g., the pickup points delivery cost depend on order value or products’ weight. Another plus is you can also encourage customers to go with a specific delivery option, like FedEx pickup points, by setting a free shipping threshold once they spend a certain amount. It’s all up to you now, and with Shopify’s plan limitations in mind, seems like a win down the road, right?

So far, we’ve covered how Shopify plans’ limitations can mix things up, learned how to handle and display Shopify pickup points with dedicated app, and how its features change depending on which Shopify plan you’re on. Now, this is where the big leagues start. Let’s roll out the red carpet for the Shopify Plus, and see how things play out on the top-tier plan.

DPD Pickup Points map at checkout on Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is in a league of its own. If you’re on it, chances are your store is already highly developed, with a solid customer base and sales that speak for themselves. When you reach this level, priorities change and you’re playing a different game. You have now every Shopify feature at your fingertips, and your focus has shifted to scaling and delivering the best, most seamless experience to your customers. With global shipping in full swing, you need a carrier you can trust, and DPD fits the bill with its reliable delivery network worldwide and customizable services including wide range of DPD pickup points. Now, it’s time to bring them into your checkout flow, and, once again, Octolize Pickup Points PRO app is here to make it happen.

Seamless integration with Shopify checkout

With Google Maps behind the scenes, you can use your own API key to let your customers choose DPD pickup points on a map during checkout. It integrates seamlessly with shipping methods, using Shopify native mechanisms and fitting so perfectly, it’s like it’s been there from day one. All it takes is adding a dedicated block to your checkout page template, and the app will pretty much take it from there.

You decide whether you want to show pickup points on a map or in a list. If you go with the map, a mini-map will appear below the shipping method, displaying carrier-specific PUDO locations like these DPD pickup points here:

DPD Pickup points displayed at Shopify checkout

Nice and clean, perfectly integrated with Shopify checkout and mobile friendly, which is a must these days; exactly what you need. The rest runs like it does with the Shopify plans with Carrier Service API access we’ve covered before. No changes here – you can still control which types of carrier pickup points your customers can choose from, set precise delivery cost calculation rules based on weight or order value, and even add free shipping threshold to make those cart totals climb higher. What’s solid, stays solid, so this part’s no different.

Selected pickup point as shipping address

There’s one more thing that hasn’t come up yet, and it’s worth sharing. It might seem small, but it connects a lot of the dots and could make a big difference in how you approach things further. The thing is you can set the pickup points your customers select to be always used as the default delivery address for an order. It’s the kind of feature that simplifies tasks you didn’t even realize could be streamlined. You can think of it as having an extra pair of hands to handle those small details that add up. At this point, you might be wondering, okay, but when does this actually help me out?

Compatibility with external shipping solutions

This feature is a great fit if you’re using external shipping tools for label generation, like WMS platforms or third-party fulfillment integrations—no more jumping through hoops to sync it all up. The app takes the customer’s chosen pickup point, saves it to the order information and automatically updates the final shipping address with the pickup point’s details. From here, you can pull the data to your fulfillment system and generate shipping labels there with just a few clicks, with no address corrections or manual edits required. It simply makes your day-to-day order handling a whole lot easier. And the best part? This feature doesn’t play favorites—it works with all carriers, and it’s available on every app version, no matter which Shopify plan you’re on.

Now that you’ve got a good grasp of how pickup points work, how to set them up and how to overcome any hurdles, let’s think about how to make the most of your Shopify pickup points. After all, the key to success is not just setting them up, but also making them part of your customers’ journey from start to finish. So, let’s have a look then at the…

Best practices for offering Shopify pickup points

Regardless of what stage your store is at, there are a few things you can do right away to put pickup points front and center for your customers. Below are some practical tips that have been tried and tested over the years, that can work wonders for all kinds of businesses, no matter what field you’re in:

Highlight pickup points on product pages

Don’t wait with introducing them until the cart or checkout. Make sure your customers are aware they can pick their orders where it suits them best from the moment they land on your product pages. This allows them to plan ahead with more convenience in mind and helps their decision-making by providing the flexibility they expect.

Communicate the benefits

Show off the winning trio – convenience, flexibility and cost savings that come with choosing pickup points. Use them to paint the full picture of why pickup points make it an all-around win for both—customers’ time and budget.

Provide clear instructions

Don’t leave the customers in the dark—let them know exactly what’s needed for collection and how long they have to pick up their order, so they can plan it without any last-minute surprises.

Offer more than one carrier

Don’t box your customers in by sticking to just one carrier. Always provide at least two carrier choices as an alternative to ensure they can choose the service they trust or the location that’s most convenient for them.

Bringing these best practices into your store will pay off in spades and they will have a huge impact down the road. By putting them into action, you’re showing you understand what matters to your customers and they will feel you’re speaking their language. Now that you’re equipped with all these insights, it’s time for you to roll up your sleeves and put it to good use. But before you jump in with both feet, let’s go over the main takeaways and make sure you’ve got everything you need to make the most of what you’ve learned.

FAQ

How to add pickup points to my Shopify store?

You can use Shopify’s built-in pickup points; however, they are limited to the Shopify Plus plan and available only in certain countries. A much better approach is to use a dedicated app, which opens up many more possibilities, supports multiple carriers, and provides more features and flexibility.

How to offer pickup points on Shopify Basic plan?

The Shopify Basic plan, due to its limitations and lack of Carrier-Calculated Shipping (CCS) rates, unfortunately doesn’t allow pickup points to be displayed as a standard option at checkout. A workaround is to use a dedicated app that enables customers to select a pickup point, e.g., in the Cart.

How do I display a pickup points map on my Shopify checkout page?

To show a map of pickup points at checkout, your store needs to be on Shopify Plus, which allows adding a custom block to display carrier’s pickup points. If you’re not on Shopify Plus, you can use a third-party app to show your customers the nearest pickup points suggestions on the list instead.

Can customers choose pickup points from multiple carriers on Shopify?

Yes, unlike the native Shopify pickup points, with dedicated third-party apps for pickup points shipping, you can give your customers the flexibility to choose from a wide range of multiple carriers’ pickup points worldwide, all at once, providing more convenience and a better shopping experience.

What is the best app for adding pickup points to Shopify?

It depends on your store’s specific needs, but the right app for adding pickup points to Shopify should support multiple carriers, work on all Shopify plans, provide global coverage and integrate seamlessly with your store. Octolize Pickup Points PRO has it all, making it a great choice to consider.

Summary

We’ve walked through the ins and outs of Shopify pickup points—why they’re worth it, how they benefit your store, and how to get past the limitations of Shopify plans. Now, that we’ve unpacked everything about them and connected all the dots, one thing’s crystal clear: pickup points are a win-win. They tick every box, from convenience to cost savings for both you and your customers, and the benefits are simply too good to miss out on. The more we talk about them, the more obvious it gets—they make a difference, and they are a must-have for every Shopify store nowadays.

This is why it’s so important to have a reliable tool in your corner—one that lets you offer pickup points to your customers and that you can count on, no matter which Shopify plan you’re on. So, if providing your customers with pickup points from 30+ carrier companies worldwide—hassle-free and without signing any contracts—is what you’re after, Octolize Pickup Points PRO app is exactly what you’ve been searching for, and this is the way.

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