Would you like to learn how to set up WooCommerce shipping options?
When you are in the creation of an e-commerce website, there are a lot of processes and moving parts to deal with. However, among the most important are order fulfillment and shipping operations. Between determining rates and charges, selecting shipping areas, and choosing methods of fulfilling orders, there is a lot to consider.
Fortunately, if you're a WooCommerce user, setting up your shipping options is a relatively straightforward process. By following a few quick steps, you can set up your WooCommerce shipping to optimize the online shopping experience for your customers.
In this article, we'll introduce you to WooCommerce shipping. Next, we will provide you with a detailed walkthrough on how to configure each option.
An introduction to WooCommerce Shipping
WooCommerce is a WordPress Plugin popular that you can use to create and manage an online store directly from your website. You can use it to sell digital or physical goods:
If you plan to sell tangible items in your WooCommerce store, you will need to configure your shipping options. Understanding your choices is essential to making sure you choose the right setup for your business, as well as your customers. Finding a balance between fast and affordable shipping is crucial.
There are a lot of options to choose from, and sorting through them at first can seem a little intimidating. However, the more you know about what each setting means, the better able you will be to ensure that you select the most practical solutions and the beneficial strategy.
Providing a solid shipping experience has always been an essential part of e-commerce. However, given the increase in the number of online shopping since COVID-19 global pandemic, it is perhaps more essential than ever and it has become a major e-commerce trend. With so much competition among e-commerce companies, a solid shipping strategy can help you stand out.
For example, let's say a buyer is torn between you and one of your competition. If you offer free shipping to their country, but the other company charges a fee, they are likely to be more inclined to accompany your business.
By default, WooCommerce comes with a handful of built-in shipping options. However, there are also the WooCommerce plugins which you can use to extend the features and functionality of the platforms. We will touch on a few that are worth considering. For now, let's focus on setting up your WooCommerce shipping options.
How to set up WooCommerce shipping options
Now that you know a little more about WooCommerce shipping, it's time to get to work. For this tutorial, we'll assume that you already have create an online store WooCommerce.
Otherwise, you have to start there. To set up your shipping options, you'll first need to set up your WooCommerce store and payment gateways.
Step 1: Configure Shipping Zones
The first step in setting up your shipping options is to select your WooCommerce shipping zones. In a nutshell, it refers to the geographic locations where you will deliver your products. You can choose different countries and then narrow down the locations by specific regions.
After selecting a shipping area, WooCommerce will ask you to choose a shipping method for it. You can also apply different shipping rates for each area.
To get started, go to WooCommerce> Settings in your WordPress dashboard. Under the General tab, scroll to the section options General :
From the drop-down menu, you can choose the locations to ship to. For example, you can select Deliver to all countries ou Deliver to specific countries only. We will use the first one for the purposes of this tutorial. Save Changes.
Then click on the tab Shipping:
On this screen, you will find the default WooCommerce shipping settings. Go ahead and select Shipping zones, and click Add a delivery zone :
Then you can enter a zone name, as well as a Zone composition from the drop-down menu. We will select the United States and Canada as an example:
Note that your customers will only be able to see the shipping options for the areas they are in. For example, if you are also shipping to the UK, these buyers will not be able to see your shipping options for the United States. You can further specify the shipping area by clicking on the link Limit to specific postal codes.
Once you have chosen your shipping zones, the next step is to choose your shipping method for that zone. Let's see how to do this in the next section.
Step 2: Choose the correct shipping method
On the same screen, where we just selected Shipping zonesyou will find the option Add a delivery method. To do this, click on Add a shipping method
WooCommerce offers you three standard shipping methods. We'll discuss each option in more detail below.
Flat rate shipping costs
Flat rate shipping costs : This is when you charge customers a flat rate based on shipping calculations for a particular area. You can add several flat rates per zone. This includes defining a standard price per item, shipping class, or order. For example, you can add a flat fee or a percentage of the total order (for example, 10% of the total purchase amount).
If you select Flat rate as the shipping method, you can click the link Edit under the name, and a new window will open:
On this screen, you can enter the method title, which will be visible to customers, and configure the VAT status, which means the shipment will be taxable or not. You can also set the cost of the shipping method. For example, if you want to charge $ 2,00, you must enter "2,00".
This amount will apply to the entire basket. For more information on your advanced cost options, you can click the question mark icon next to the field title. We'll go into more detail when we discuss rates and fees. When you are finished, click Save Changes.
Free Shipping
Free Shipping is one of the best benefits you can offer your e-commerce customers. As we mentioned earlier, this can be a powerful way to increase sales and conversions.
Of course, offering free shipping to your customers is not without its drawbacks. You will need to determine if the costs incurred to provide free shipping, along with relatively quick delivery times, is a cost effective approach for your business.
As with flat rate shipping, if you select this as the shipping method, you can click the link Edit from the screen WooCommerce> Shipping. A new window will open where you can enter a method title and select a requirement for free shipping:
For this section you can choose N/A if you don't want to specify criteria to qualify orders for free shipping. You can also choose between:
- Valid free shipping promo code
- Minimum order amount
- Minimum order amount OR a promo code
- Minimum order amount AND a promo code
When a customer adds a product to their WooCommerce cart, they will be able to see what shipping options are available. When you are finished, click the button Save Changes.
Point of sale delivery
A third option is Location . As with flat rate shipping, you can use this option to add your own title, apply tax status, and configure shipping cost:
Since this is a situation where the customer will pick up their order, likely from your physical store, you probably won't need to enter an amount for shipping costs. Also note that by default, the WooCommerce Point of Sale shipping option will calculate taxes based on the location of the store, rather than your customers' addresses.
Step 3: Configure Shipping Rates and Charges
So far, we have discussed the rates for the main types of shipping methods. However, let's take a step further to help you fully understand your options.
For flat rate delivery, you can choose from a handful of advanced options. These include the following:
- [qty]: You can use it to charge customers shipping rates based on the number of items they have in their carts.
- [costs]: This allows you to add shipping charges based on the total cost of the orders.
If you want to use the parameter [fairy], you will have the choice between additional arguments:
- percentage: Set the additional shipping cost as a percentage.
- min_fee: Set a minimum value for additional charges.
- max_fee: Set a maximum value for additional charges.
Let's say you choose flat rate shipping as the shipping method. In the field Cost, you can enter any of the above placeholders. If you have used the reserved space [qty], you can charge an additional fee for each item a customer adds to their cart.
For example, if you put "2 + (5 * [qty])" in the field Cost, that means you would charge your customers a flat rate shipping fee of $ 2,00, plus an additional $ 5,00 for each product they add to the cart.
On the other hand, if you have chosen the placeholder [costs], you can add additional shipping charges based on a percentage of the order total. For example, you can add "2 + [fee percent =" 5 "max_fee =" 20 ″] ". This means that shipping would have a base charge of $ 2,00 plus 5 percent of the total purchase cost without exceeding $ 20,00.
If all of these options get a little confusing, don't worry. There are additional settings and tools which you can use to simplify the process.
Delivery options and calculations
Then you can access the delivery options :
All settings on this screen are optional. However, there are a handful of useful features that you might want to consider using. For example, you can choose activate the shipping calculator on the shopping cart page.
With this setting selected, your buyers will be able to see how much shipping costs will cost when adding items to their carts. This can help ensure transparency, so that they are not caught off guard.
You will also have the option to select the default shipping destination as follows:
- Customer's delivery address
- Customer's billing address
- Force shipping to customer's billing address
When you're done, be sure to click the button Save Changes at the bottom of the screen to apply your preferences.
Step 4: Add Shipping Classes
You can also set the flat rate shipping cost based on product shipping classes. For example, you might want to implement a different cost depending on whether the customer requested regular or expedited shipping.
Shipping classes are used to group similar products together and apply the same type of shipping methods and charges. For example, you can also categorize products based on weight, such as bulky vs. small.
Let's say you sell snowboard gear, clothing, and gear. You're probably going to charge more for shipping a helmet or boots than a t-shirt or pair of gloves.
To add a new shipping class, you can access the tab Shipping, then click on the link Shipping classes, followed by the Add a button shipping class :
On the next screen, you can enter a title for the shipping class, an identifier, and a description. As an example, we'll use "shoes":
When done, click Save shipping class. Then, assuming you've already enabled at least one type of shipping method (which we covered in the previous sections), you can just select that method for that class.
To do so, go back to Shipping zones, then go to the section Shipping methods. Click on the link Edit under the shipping method you want to use:
Now the same flat rate shipping window will appear as before. However, this time there will be an additional section of shipping class fee:
In this area, you can select the specific shipping costs for this class and define a calculation type. For the latter, you have two options:
- By class, which means the shipping class influences the shipping cost
- Per order, in which the item in the order with the highest price will determine the shipping costs
You can repeat this process for each type of shipping class you want to create for your WooCommerce products. When you are finished, click Save Changes.
Step 5: Configure the Command Execution Operation
Once you have your shipping zones, methods, and rates, you are already done setting up your WooCommerce shipping. However, you still need to tackle your fulfillment operations.
Order fulfillment refers to your process of stocking products andOrganisation inventory, as well as the packaging and shipping of your orders. Of course, some of your operations, such as where you store your products and inventory, will depend on your business, just as the carriers you use will likely depend on your locations.
However, WooCommerce offers a range of fulfillment and inventory settings that you should be aware of.
For example, to manage your inventory options, you can access WooCommerce> Settings> Products> Inventory :
On this screen, you have a handful of options for managing inventory. For example, you can enable out-of-stock notifications, as well as set thresholds for each of them.
You can also choose to manage the stock. If you activate inventory management, the inventory of your physical products will be managed automatically. You can simply enter the amount, and WooCommerce will subtract the items as customers purchase them.
If you leave this option unchecked, you will have to enter the inventory status manually.
WooCommerce Shipping, Inventory, and Fulfillment Extensions
At this point, we've covered the basics of WooCommerce shipping options. However, as you may remember, the settings that come with the default plugin aren't the only options available to you.
To improve your WooCommerce shipping and order fulfillment experience, you may also want to consider using a third-party extension or plugin. There are a wide variety of these tools to choose from, including:
- WooCommerce Shipping : A handy extension that you can use to print shipping labels right from your website dashboard. Besides being free to use, it also allows you to print labels for USPS and DHL. Powered by Jetpack, this plugin can help you speed up your ordering and fulfillment process by eliminating the need to manually enter each order details into your labeling software. The extension connects directly to WooCommerce, so it does all of the heavy lifting for you.
- ShipStation Integration : A free tool you can use to streamline your WooCommerce shipping and fulfillment operations. With it, you can automatically import orders from WooCommerce or other platforms like Amazon. Then you can tap into a long list of carrier choices, taking advantage of USPS rates and discounts in the process. You can also customize notification emails, shipping labels, and packing slips, and provide a tracking page with your business branding.
These are just two of the many plugins you could use to extend the functionality and features of your WooCommerce shipping operations. To explore more options, you can go to WooCommerce> Extensions from your dashboard.
Optimize your shipping options to maximize the shopping experience for your users
WooCommerce is a robust and powerful tool for starting and managing an online store. However, an essential part of optimizing the online shopping experience for your customers is making sure you provide them with the best possible shipping options.
As we discussed in this article, WooCommerce offers a wide variety of shipping options. Some are integrated with the plugin, while others are available through premium tools. By following this guide, you can quickly configure your shipping settings to meet the specific needs of your business (and target audience).
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Conclusion
So ! That's it for this article that shows you how to configure WooCommerce shipping options. If you have any concerns about how to get there let us know within Comments.
However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation or the one on Divi: the best WordPress theme of all time.
But meanwhile, share this article on your different social networks.
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