Transportation is an important part of any online store. More than 60% of online shoppers will give up shopping carts if they find that they have added freight when they buy.
Providing free shipping in your WooCommerce store is a useful strategy to increase customer retention.
The survey quoted it as saying that most online stores often use it as an effective strategy to minimize the abandonment of shopping carts.
Consider your own experience. When you shop online, you may see what you want in two different stores. One website charges you $15 for shipping, while the other offers free shipping, but the price of the item is about the same in both stores.
You may buy the product from a website that offers free delivery, right?
We know we will!
If you want to add free shipping to your WooCommerce store, please read on. You will learn when and how to provide free delivery without losing money.
We will show you how to set up free shipping for all products in your store. You will learn how to use the WooCommerce shipping class and the WooCommerce plug-in to specify free shipping for a single product for more customization.
You will also learn how to use coupons to set up free shipping and set coupon usage restrictions in your WooCommerce store.
- What is the flat rate and free freight?
- Why provide free delivery service?
- When should I provide free delivery service?
- How to provide free delivery service without losing money
- How to set up free delivery service in WooCommerce
- Test the free delivery service in WooCommerce
- Hide other delivery methods when providing free delivery service
- Summary
What is the flat rate and free delivery?
The uniform freight is the regular freight applicable to the product, regardless of its weight, size and size. This makes it easier for shoppers to know the freight prices they will be charged before checking out.
If you ship large items, the uniform freight can save you money. On the other hand, if you ship a lightweight product, it may be more expensive.
If you offer free delivery, customers don’t have to pay extra freight. This helps you attract more customers and has a competitive advantage over stores that charge freight.
We will share later how you provide free delivery without losing money.
Why do you provide free delivery service?
Providing free delivery service is an effective strategy to help retain and attract customers. However, if you don’t have a good strategy to provide it, it can be expensive for small and medium-sized stores.
High freight will affect customers’ decision to buy products from your store. If shoppers find that additional freight is added to the products they buy, they tend to give up their shopping carts.
Online shoppers value free delivery more than discount coupons. If freight is not charged, many shoppers are often willing to accept longer delivery times.
Other shoppers are happy to pay advanced freight if they are in urgent need of products. If you want to offset free shipping costs and increase profit margins, you can add this option to your store.
Including many transportation options is important because the lack of transportation options is another reason for online shoppers to abandon shopping carts.
When should you provide free delivery?
Free delivery can help you retain customers, but when should you offer free delivery in your WooCommerce store?
You need to decide which free delivery services you want to introduce into your store to suit your unique situation.
Here are some options:
1. Free delivery-you can increase the price of the product to absorb the transportation cost. Alternatively, you can check your profit margin and figure out how much additional sales are needed to make up for the loss in profit per sale. Higher sales may qualify you for reduced transportation costs. You can work closely with shippers to get the best combination of costs and services.
Many retailers use this method to provide free transportation.
two。 Minimum order free shipping-this will encourage your customers to add more products to their shopping carts to meet the threshold required for free shipping. This will help you increase the average order value and help you make up for the absorbed freight.
At Amazon, for example, orders for qualified goods worth more than $25 or more are eligible for free shipping.
3. Limited locations-freight to some locations is very expensive. You can provide free delivery service to customers in your country. Alternatively, you can provide free delivery from the distribution center to the local retail store. We suggest that shoppers be informed of the locations where they are eligible for free shipping.
4. Free freight for some products-before choosing a product that is suitable for free shipping, you should consider the profit margin and the freight generated. Test free shipping on these goods so that you don’t have to lose money. You can use this strategy to promote the sale of goods that you rarely buy.
For example, you can offer free shipping for goods purchased in large quantities.
5. Product portfolio-you can provide free shipping for complementary products. For example, if a customer buys a tripod bracket and a camera, you can provide free shipping service. In addition, you can use a variety of buy one get one free to encourage customers to buy more than one product. When customers add one of the products, you can prompt them with a message: “add another product and you can enjoy free shipping.”
As you can see, there are many ways to offer free shipping to benefit both shopkeepers and consumers.
How to provide free delivery service without losing money
As a shopkeeper, the ultimate challenge is how to provide affordable free delivery to your customers and balance expenses.
Here are some ways you can pay for free shipping:
1. Include the freight price in your pricing-you should know the freight cost of the product from the moment you receive the inventory. After that, incorporate these costs into your financial model. For example, you can raise the price slightly to take the shipping price into account.
two。 Marketing free delivery-online shoppers like free delivery, but if there is free delivery, they need to be informed of this. You can mention free delivery on pages and product pages visited by customers.
3. Focus on upselling and cross-selling-in most online stores, transportation becomes more efficient as more items are added to the shopping cart. For example, when a customer buys a hair dryer and is cross-sold a set of hair care products, you can provide free delivery. If you bear the freight, you will make upselling and cross-selling the driving force of profit margins.
You can also reduce administrative costs by building relationships with your suppliers.
How to set free freight in WooCommerce
Providing a free delivery service can help you reduce the abandonment of shopping carts, because if customers have no extra charge at checkout, they are more likely to buy products from your store.
If the customer adds additional goods to achieve the minimum amount of free freight, you will also benefit.
By providing free delivery service and extending the delivery time, you will reduce the pressure of fast delivery. This enables you to take advantage of the lower cost advantage provided by your shipping agent.
As you will soon learn, it is very easy to set up free shipping in your WooCommerce store. You don’t need any coding skills to do this.
Let’s see how to set up free shipping in WooCommerce.
How to set free shipping for all products
Here are the steps you should follow:
Step 1: enter your WooCommerce Menu Settings & gt; Shipping & gt; Shipping zone
You can add a new shipping area here. Click on the shipping area to add a shipping mode.
Step 2: click to add shipping mode
Step 3: select the free shipping option from the menu
Click Add Shipping method.
Save your changes.
Now, customers in this area will receive free delivery service every time they shop.
How to specify free shipping for a single product
By default, WooCommerce does not include free shipping for some products.
There are two ways to apply freight-free to specific products:
- Transport classes using WooCommerce
- Use the WooCommerce plug-in
Method 1: use WooCommerce shipping class
As we have mentioned, WooCommerce does not allow you to apply free shipping to a single product by default. You can do this by using the default flat rate shipping method and the WooCommerce transport class.
If you sell different types of products, shipping can help you solve different challenges. For example, if you are selling large or fragile products, it is best to classify them as different transportation categories.
Here are the steps you should follow:
Step 1: create a shipping category for free products
You can create a shipping category for free products by going to WooCommerce & gt; Settings & gt; Shipping & gt; Shipping classes.
Click the “Add shipping class” button to get started. This action will allow you to enter the name, slug, and description of the shipping category.
To illustrate, we will demonstrate how you can provide free delivery that can be used with deliverable products. For example, you may want to charge freight for jeans and free shipping for denim shorts.
We will create two separate transport categories, as follows:
Once you are done, click Save shipping classes.
Step 2: configure freight rates
The next step is to configure the freight in the transport area. You can do this by clicking Shipping zones and selecting Shipping zones.
In this example, we will use the default WooCommerce shipping zone.
First, add Flat Rate as a transport mode and click the Edit option to configure it, as shown in the following figure:
This action opens a pop-up window where you can configure the flat rate setting (Flat Rate setting).
First, customize the title. This is because it will be displayed at the front end.
In our example, when free shipping is applied, the resulting title text is Shipping Charge:
Step 3: apply for freight for the type of transport
Next, enter a freight of 0 for “Free-shipping” and 10 for “Denim-class”:
Click the Save changes button.
Step 4: specify freight categories for related products
The final step is to specify the type of transportation for the product.
The following screenshot shows how “Denim-class” is assigned to the product-“Faint Washed Denim Blue Jeans”:
The following screenshot shows how “Free-class” is assigned to the product-“Blue Denim Shorts”:
Remember to update your changes so that they are reflected at the front end.
Here are the results of the WooCommerce checkout page.
When the free product “Blue Denim Shorts” is added to the shopping cart, the flat rate is displayed as null, as shown in the following figure:
This allows you to offer free shipping for some products.
Let’s add another product, “Faint Washed Denim Blue Jeans”, and see how the shopping cart will be affected when we add a shipable product.
The flat rate is shown as $10, as we configured before.
Method 2: use the WooCommerce plug-in
Some WooCommerce plug-ins let you customize or filter free shipping options for a single product.
Here are the four best plug-ins we recommend:
1. ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plug-in
ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods is an advanced plug-in that has complete control over hiding shipping methods based on different parameters.
This plugin allows you to hide other delivery methods when there is free delivery. Its interface is easy to use and does not require coding skills to use it.
It includes an option to selectively hide the mode of transportation based on shipping type, order weight, shipping destination, product category, and so on.
For example, you can display only free shipments of products in a specific transport category.
Here are some other features:
- You can hide WooCommerce’s delivery mode when there is free delivery.
- You can use filters such as user roles to hide shipping methods
- You can hide the mode of transportation according to the type of transportation.
- You can hide the mode of transportation according to the zip code.
Start using ELEX to hide WooCommerce shipping methods
2. WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping
WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping is a plug-in that allows you to provide free shipping services for specific products in your store.
This plug-in has more than 40000 active installations in the WordPress community and is designed specifically for shipping scenarios.
It includes the option of providing free shipping in shopping carts that include specific coupons, categories, products, shipping categories, quantities, weights, or small timers.
In addition, you can configure it with the user’s details, such as county, city, state, user role, and zip code.
You can also use product size and inventory status.
The plug-in also includes the option to merge modes of transportation and to hide other modes of transportation when free transportation is provided.
There is an advanced version of this plug-in that provides more customization options.
3. Advanced Flat Rate Shipping Method WooCommerce
Advanced Flat Rate Shipping Method WooCommerce allows you to create unlimited shipping methods. You can create shipping methods for specific categories, countries, products, and subtotals.
It includes an option to customize how the shipping method is displayed. You can use the drop-down menu or radio button to display the mode of transportation.
This plug-in has an advanced version that provides additional customization features such as zip codes, shipping areas, user roles, coupons, product labels, and so on.
Here are some of these features:
- It includes shipping options to boost sales
- It allows you to manage and optimize transportation costs.
- It allows you to delete any existing shipping methods.
Start using the advanced flat rate transportation method WooCommerce
4. WooCommerce Table Rate Shipping Pro plug-in
The WooCommerce Table Rate Shipping Pro plug-in is better than other plug-ins on this list because it includes an option to set a range for the price, quantity, and weight of the product.
This feature is especially useful if you want to provide free shipping based on price, weight, product quantity, shipping destination and category.
The method group function allows you to combine multiple transportation methods.
This plugin creates free shipping options in your WooCommerce store depending on the shipping category or product category.
Here are some features:
- It allows you to import / export shipping rules in bulk using CSV
- It allows you to use a free add-on to set the shipping cost of the product
How to set free shipping for orders that exceed the set amount
Step 1: select the shipping area
It is very easy to set free shipping for orders that exceed the set order amount. From the shipping menu, select your shipping area. If you don’t have a shipping zone, you can create a shipping zone.
Step 2: select a free freight setting
The next step is to click “Edit” under the heading of your mode of transportation.
Step 3: enter a title
The Free Shipping tag appears. You need to give a title.
For example, “minimum amount of free freight”.
Step 4: enter the minimum amount and save the changes
In “Free shipping requires…” There are four options under the settings:
- One valid free freight coupon
- Minimum order amount
- Minimum order amount or coupon
- Minimum order amount and coupons
Select the A minimum order amount option.
Enter the minimum amount that the customer needs to spend to qualify for free delivery, and then click the Save Changes button:
Customers who shop in your store will receive free delivery service when they spend the minimum order amount.
How to use coupons to set free freight in WooCommerce
Offering discount coupons is another tool you can include in your marketing strategy.
You can send coupons to social media fans and subscribers. You can also encourage past customers to come back by offering coupons. This enables you to build your email list.
Here are the steps you need to follow to set up free shipping with coupons in WooCommerce:
Step 1: enter WooCommerce & gt; Settings & gt; General
Step 2: click the check box to enable the use of the coupon code
Now you can use the coupon code in your WooCommerce store.
Step 3: go to WooCommerce & gt; Coupons & gt; Add New Coupon
Here, you can create a new coupon:
Click the Create your first coupon button.
Step 4: configure coupons-settings to be configured
Here are some settings you need to configure on the General tab:
- Coupon Code (Coupon code)-customers need to enter this code at checkout to apply for free shipping. We recommend using a unique code each time you create a coupon.
- Description (Description)-including description is optional. It is invisible to customers. You can add promotion details, such as time.
- Discount type (Discount type)-this option allows you to set a fixed shopping cart discount, percentage discount, or fixed product discount.
- Discount amount (Discount amount)-you need to enter a basic number to set the discount amount you want to offer. You should not add a percentage or currency symbol.
- Allow Freight Free option (Allow free shipping option)-this option gives customers free shipping when using coupons.
- Expiration date (Expiration date)-this option allows you to set a date after which it is no longer useful.
Step 5: restrictions on the use of coupons
- Minimum consumption (Minimum spend)-this is the amount that shoppers must spend when using coupons.
- Maximum consumption (Maximum spend)-this is the maximum consumption allowed to use coupons.
- Does not include discounted items (Exclude sale items)-this option prevents shoppers from using coupons for discounted items.
- Exclude products (Exclude products)-this section allows you to specify products that should not be included in the coupon discount.
- There must be products in the shopping cart (Must have products in cart)-this option allows you to specify products that must be in the shopping cart so that you can use coupons.
- Only available alone (Individual use only)-this option prevents shoppers from combining this discount with other coupons.
- Exclude categories (Exclude categories)-this option allows you to specify product categories that should not be included in the coupon discount.
- Allowed email (Allowed emails)-this option allows you to specify an email address where you can use coupons.
Step 6: use restrictions
- Usage limit per coupon (Usage limit per coupon)-this option allows you to specify the number of times the coupon can be used.
- Usage restrictions per user (Usage limit per user)-this option allows you to specify the number of times individual shoppers can use coupons.
Step 7: click publish
Click the “publish” button to save your settings.
Your coupon is ready now!
Test free delivery in WooCommerce
There are many ways to test free shipping to see if it works for your store.
First of all, you need to know the basic cost and profit margin of each product in your store. You should also need to find out the standard freight for each product.
Use the size and weight of the product to find an accurate shipping price from your shipping company.
You can carry out free delivery on specific items through the Agamot B test. For example, you may want to provide free shipping services for your best-selling products. You can compare the order conversion rates of products in your store with and without free delivery service.
If you choose the “free shipping with conditions” option, you can gradually increase the minimum amount per order to reach the freight-free threshold.
It should be noted that it takes time to test free shipping in your store. You need to know the ways that are good for you.
Hide other delivery methods when providing free delivery service
When providing free delivery service, hide other delivery methods to create a good shopping experience for your customers.
If there is a free shipping option in any order, most shoppers may prefer this option.
By default, WooCommerce displays all available shipping options. You can hide other options by adding a code snippet to your subtheme’s functions.php file. You can see how to add a custom PHP to the Astra theme.
The following code snippet hides all modes of transportation when the free shipping option is available.
/** * Hides Shipping Methods If Free Shipping is Available. */ function wpastra_hide_shipping_when_free_is_available( $rates ) { $free = array(); foreach ( $rates as $rate_id => $rate ) { if ( 'free_shipping' === $rate->get_method_id() ) { $free[ $rate_id ] = $rate; } } return ! empty( $free ) ? $free : $rates; } add_filter( 'woocommerce_package_rates', 'wpastra_hide_shipping_when_free_is_available', 100 );
In addition, you can use the ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plug-in to hide other shipping methods.
Summary
Through careful planning, providing free shipping services in WooCommerce can provide several benefits to your store, such as customer loyalty, sales promotion, and conversion rates.
Free delivery can also reduce the abandonment of shopping carts. It can even encourage customers to increase the value of their orders to meet the conditions of free shipping.
These are the things we hope to encourage in the store!
Do you offer free delivery service in your WooCommerce store? How does it work for you? Would you recommend it to others? Please tell us your experience below!
