WooCommerce shipping methods can be a bit tricky, don’t they? Shipment is the most important part of a WooCommerce website. Handling the expenses of shipping is quite a thorny part when you consider the operational costs of your business.
And hence, operating a WooCommerce business is again a hurdle when you consider shipping. When you own a store that ships products to different locations, reducing the cost of shipping becomes quite a challenge. You can choose to tentatively hide WooCommerce shipping methods, which might not suit the customer’s needs or even incur unnecessary costs to uphold your business values.
Occasionally, a customer purchases from your store, and your store doesn’t offer shipping to that location. Then, when you specify the zip code for the area, you can easily identify the locations and narrow down your shipping options. Thus, you build a strong customer base without creating false expectations for your customers.
Similar to the free shipping plugin, you can hide local pick up, flat rate, and free shipping options if you deal with certain shipping requisite products. So, you ensure your customers get only feasible, good shipping options. Check out this article to dig more about the WooCommerce hide shipping method!
Why Do You Need Hide WooCommerce Shipping Method?
Every business finds its own way to retain its customers, but the task is cumbersome. Employing a customized setting to hide WooCommerce Shipping options will limit customer loss caused by shipping hassles. Additionally, most customers find it challenging to finalize a shipping method that is both cost-effective and profitable. Thus, by hiding certain shipping methods, they can make a more informed selection. WooCommerce offers this functionality, but it is limited.
For say, Taking your customer for a ride is not advisable when the location is too close to walk. This requires you to be vigilant when quoting shipping prices. When a customer is located within your own country, they may look for cheaper options so they won’t have to pay the same as when they ship to a distant location.
For instance, Your store is located in New York, and your customers come from New York and Mexico. Shipping rates cannot be the same for both customers. Furthermore, shipping costs are not determined solely by distance. The shipping cost depends on various factors, such as the order weight and dimension.
Most of the customers get frequently confused about what to pick while selecting a better shipping method. A better approach would be to list only those shipping options that are truly profitable to them rather than all.
Advantages of Hide WooCommerce Shipping Method
Implying hide WooCommerce shipping method will enhance the customer experience. Furthermore, you can facilitate your customers with a user-friendly shipping journey. There are several benefits to hide WooCommerce shipping methods on your WooCommerce store checkout page as outlined below:
- Simplified Checkout Process
You can simplify the checkout process for your customers by hiding irrelevant shipping options. Thus, by reducing distractions, the completion rate can be increased. For instance, if a customer is entitled to free shipping, no other cost-based methods need to be displayed. - Promote Free Shipping Incentives
If you’re offering free shipping above a certain order value, hiding other shipping methods can encourage customers to add more items to their cart so they’ll qualify for free shipping. - Improved Order Accuracy
The ability to hide non-applicable shipping methods can prevent customer frustration due to complex shipping rules or limitations that depend on factors such as location or product weight. Thus, you can provide a smoother checkout process with only fewer errors. - Effective Customer Experience
You can deliver a more tailored shopping experience to your customers if you customize shipping method visibility based on specific criteria. For say, orders below a certain weight threshold could be denied express shipping options. - Conditional Visibility
A plugin lets you hide WooCommerce shipping methods based on various conditions. It allows customers to customize what they see during checkout. For instance, under a certain weight threshold, express shipping options can be hidden.
Simplify Hide Shipping Method Using ELEX Hide Woocommerce Shipping Methods
The ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plugin conceals specific shipping methods based on various criteria such as shipping class, order weight, product categories, destination countries, postal codes, SKU, and order total. The ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plugin allows you to hide shipping methods for specific product categories, based on the overall order weight, and for selected destination countries, states, postal/zip codes, and WordPress user roles.
Let’s get started with the Step-by-step process of employing the ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping method Plugin:
Installation
- To install the plugin, upload the folder to your WordPress /wp-content/plugins directory.
- Activate the ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plugin from the WordPress admin panel by going to “Installed Plugins.”
Configure the Rule
You can configure the plugin’s settings once it has been installed and activated. Select ELEX Hide Shipping from the WordPress Sidebar menu. Here are the two steps you need to follow to complete the process:
- Setting Filters for Hiding Shipping Methods
- Selecting Shipping Methods for Hiding
Setting Filters to Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods
The plugin provides some useful filters to hide WooCommerce shipping methods. You can hide WooCommerce shipping methods in the cart and checkout based on the filters you’ve configured. Once the filters are configured, click Save & Continue.
In the following image, you can see how to set the filter.
Selecting Shipping Methods to Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods
With this plugin, you can hide the following three things:
- WooCommerce Default Shipping Methods
- WooCommerce Premium Shipping Methods
- Selected Services from Premium Shipping Methods
Finally, click Create Rule to proceed.
Manage Rules
The Manage tab allows you to view and manage all the rules you have created. Besides the rule name, you’ll be able to see the parameters involved by hiding the shipping methods, as well as quick actions including Edit, Copy, and Delete.
Advanced Rules
The advanced rule option allows you to combine multiple rules into one. A shipping method will be hidden based on all the filters entered in the advanced rule. The Manage Rules tab should contain two or more rules before creating an advanced rule. Then click the Save & Continue button.
The next step is to click Create Rule. All advanced rules added to the Manage Rules tab can be found there.
Select Manage Rules -> Advanced Rules.
It is possible to view the advanced rule name, the rules necessary to create it, as well as quick actions to Edit, Copy, and Delete the advanced rule. There will be a higher priority given to advanced rules than to individual rules.
Common Attributes
Shipping Methods – Choose which shipping methods to hide. By default, the shipping method IDs like flat_rate, free_shipping, and local_pickup for WooCommerce default shipping methods are displayed. The shipping method ID will be automatically listed here if you have activated other premium shipping plugins for DHL, USPS, etc.
Shipping Options – You can hide a specific shipping service from your premium shipping method by adding HTML value. If you want to add multiple services, separate them with commas.
Rule Name – Make each rule distinctive by naming it appropriately.
Select Rules – You can combine individual rules from the drop-down list.
Compatibility with other Premium Shiping plugins
The ELEX WooCommerce hide shipping plugins are compatible with major premium plugins like :
- ELEX WooCommerce DHL Plugin
- ELEX WooCommerce EasyPost Plugin (UPS, FedEx and USPS)
- ELEX WooCommmerce Australia Post Plugin
- ELE WooCommerce USPS Plugin
You can easily hide the respective services offered by the Premium shipping plugin, using the ELEX WooCommerce hide shipping plugin.
Last Shot
The ELEX Hide WooCommerce Shipping Methods plugin allows store owners to show shipping methods based on specific criteria, making the checkout process smoother for customers. It is possible to simplify your online store’s checkout process by using this plugin strategically, which ultimately leads to higher customer satisfaction and better conversion rates. The most effective way to use the plugin is to have clear communication, offer alternative options, and review your settings consistently.
This plugin can improve the checkout process by displaying a clear selection of relevant shipping options, minimizing confusion, and speeding up the order completion process. Hiding less favorable options can drive customers towards more efficient or cost-effective shipping methods, streamlining your fulfillment process and potentially lowering costs.
FAQ’S
- Is there a shipping settings page in WooCommerce?
You can sort shipping methods by going to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones and clicking the edit button next to the zone you wish to sort. - Is it possible to remove shipping from the WooCommerce checkout?
Activate the option to hide shipping in WooCommerce settings by selecting Shipping and then disabling all shipping methods. - What is the Hide WooCommerce shipping method plugin?
In addition to allowing you to hide all shipping methods, the plugin streamlines your shipping options when you select either free shipping or local pickup for an order.