How to resolve conflicts between concurrent shipping rules when conditions overlap

We can create multiple rules of the same type in BeSure. Concurrency refers to what happens when several active rules of the same type are triggered simultaneously during checkout. This article will help you resolve conflicts that occur when two shipping rules activate under the same condition.

Why Rule Conflicts Happen

Conflicts usually arise when:

• Multiple rules try to only show different shipping methods.
• Rules share overlapping conditions (e.g., same ZIP codes or regions).
• A rule attempts to only show a method that may not actually be available in that checkout session.

How to resolve overlapping shipping rule conflicts

To prevent two rules from canceling each other out, create a dedicated fallback rule for shared conditions instead of allowing multiple rules to fight for control. Always try to pair Only show these shipping methods with the Shipping Method Available condition as a sub-condition to ensure methods actually exist at checkout.

Example scenario and solution

The Conflict

Two separate rules are configured:

Rule 1 → Only show DHL Express Worldwide shipping method when zip code is 2005 or starts with 100.

Rule 2 → Only show International Shipping shipping method when zip code is 2005 or starts with 500.

When both rules run for same ZIP code 2005, Rule 1 will try to hide all shipping methods that are not DHL Express Worldwide and Rule 2 will try to hide all shipping methods that are not International Shipping. This will result in Shipping not available error because both rules are not compatible with each other.

The Fix

To resolve this:

Create a third rule that applies to the overlapping ZIP codes and explicitly allows both methods, and modify Rule 1 and Rule 2 to exclude that ZIP code.

This prevents the checkout from showing a Shipping not available error.

Conclusion

Resolving overlapping shipping rule conflicts is less about adding more conditions and more about organizing your logic clearly. When two rules compete, one way to resolve it is to step back and introduce a neutral fallback rule. Similarly, other similar ideas can be used to resolve other conflicts.