Special shipping & payments
Merzio lets you decide, on a per-product basis, whether an item needs special handling — a different shipping or payment method than your regular catalogue. The checkout then automatically adapts which shipping and payment methods are offered to the customer based on the cart contents.
This is useful for example for:
- oversized or heavy goods that must ship by pallet,
- chilled, frozen or fragile items that need a dedicated courier,
- hazardous materials with carrier restrictions,
- wholesale products that can only be paid by bank transfer or proforma invoice,
- items reserved for personal pickup at a specific store.
How it works in a nutshell
Every product has two independent flags:
- Special logistics
- Special payment
Every shipping method has two independent toggles that decide when it should be available:
- Available for regular orders
- Available for special-logistics orders
Likewise, every payment method has two toggles:
- Available for regular orders
- Available for special-payment orders
When a customer builds a cart, the system inspects every product in it:
- Cart with no special products → at checkout only methods marked Available for regular orders are shown.
- Cart contains at least one product flagged "Special logistics" → only shipping methods marked Available for special-logistics orders are shown. Other shipping methods (even if active) are automatically hidden.
- Cart contains at least one product flagged "Special payment" → only payment methods marked Available for special-payment orders are shown.
Because both toggles on a method can be enabled at the same time, a single method can be available for both regular and special orders simultaneously — or restricted to just one of them.
Step 1: Mark the product as special
When creating or editing a product, go to the Product type tab and find the Special handling section. Tick whichever applies:
- Special logistics — if the product needs a different shipping flow than ordinary goods.
- Special payment — if the product needs a different payment flow than ordinary goods.
The two options are independent and can be used on their own. For example, a wholesale pallet might have both turned on (we want pallet delivery and bank transfer only), while a fragile item might only have special logistics enabled (it needs a special courier, but it can still be paid by card or COD like any other product).
Important
It only takes one product with a special flag in the cart to switch the entire checkout into special mode. So if a customer drops one oversized item next to a regular t-shirt, only the shipping methods allowed for special logistics will appear at checkout.
Step 2: Configure shipping methods
Go to Settings > Shipping methods and open each method whose availability you want to adjust. In the bottom Visibility & target audience section you'll find these toggles:
- Available for regular orders — turn on if the method should appear for standard orders (no special flag).
- Available for special-logistics orders — turn on if the method should appear when the cart contains at least one product flagged "Special logistics".
- Supports cash on delivery — informational toggle indicating whether the method accepts COD.
- Active — the master switch for the whole method. If off, no one will ever see it.
Practical scenarios
Scenario A — standard courier shipping: A courier (e.g. Packeta) handles regular goods. Enable only Available for regular orders.
Scenario B — pallet shipping: A specialised pallet carrier only handles oversized goods. Enable only Available for special-logistics orders and leave the regular toggle off. It will not be offered for regular purchases at all.
Scenario C — personal pickup: You want goods to always be collectible, both regular and special. Enable both toggles.
Scenario D — courier that won't carry fragile goods: You want to prevent the standard courier from accepting fragile products. Enable only Available for regular orders and disable Available for special-logistics orders. When an order contains a fragile item, this courier simply won't be offered.
Step 3: Configure payment methods
Go to Settings > Payments and in the Payment methods section you'll find all 8 methods (Bank transfer, Global Payments, Cash on delivery, Stripe, Finby, Comgate, Pay24, GoPay). Each method has three checkboxes:
- Enable [name] — the master switch. If off, no one will ever see it.
- Available for regular orders — the method is offered at standard checkout.
- Available for special-payment orders — the method is offered when the cart contains at least one product flagged "Special payment".
Practical scenarios
Scenario A — card payment for everyone: Stripe is for all regular orders. Enable Enable Stripe + Available for regular orders. Disable the special toggle so Stripe is not offered on wholesale orders.
Scenario B — bank transfer for businesses: You want wholesale products to be payable only by bank transfer. On the Bank transfer method, disable Available for regular orders and enable Available for special-payment orders. A regular customer will never see bank transfer; a B2B customer will.
Scenario C — cash on delivery for regular products only: You don't want COD on bulky or expensive items. On Cash on delivery, enable only Available for regular orders and disable the special toggle.
Scenario D — method available everywhere: If you want a method to be offered regardless of cart contents, enable both toggles at once.
What the customer sees at checkout
At checkout, Merzio automatically:
- Inspects every product in the cart.
- Detects whether any of them carries the Special logistics or Special payment flag.
- In the shipping section, only shows methods that match the cart contents.
- In the payment section, only shows methods that match the cart contents.
The customer doesn't need to do anything extra — the system handles the filtering on its own.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I mix a regular product and a Special-logistics product in the same cart? The whole cart is treated as special. The customer will only see shipping methods allowed for special logistics. If you don't want such mixed carts, we recommend mentioning in the product description that the item must be ordered separately, or technically blocking the addition via a notice in the storefront.
Can I make a method available only for regular orders? Yes — enable Available for regular orders and disable Available for special-logistics / payment orders.
What if I disable both toggles on a method? The method will never appear at checkout, even if the master Active / Enable toggle is on. It works as a temporary hide without deleting the method.
Does this also apply to wholesale (B2B) payment methods? Wholesale (B2B) payment methods currently only have a single Enable toggle and are only offered to logged-in B2B customers. The special / regular distinction applies to the regular payment methods.
Can I set different shipping based on weight or price? Yes — that's a separate feature in Fee rules and Free shipping settings on each shipping method. It works independently of special logistics.
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