María, a shop owner based in the Canary Islands has been running her online store for a few years. In order to ease the burden around tax calculations for her online store, she would like to set the Canary Island General Indirect Tax (IGIC) directly in her WooCommerce tax rates. This will allow taxes to be calculated correctly during checkout.

Traditionally, using just the core WooCommerce plugin, María would only be able to configure tax rates for Spain as a whole since the state code isn’t available during checkout.

Requirements

For this use-case, the following extensions are needed:

• Shipping Locations Pro – Used for adding the states/locations (and the state codes) for all of Spain, including its constituent islands.

Configuration

To configure the special tax rate for the Canary Islands in Spain, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress admin area;
2. Ensure that Shipping Locations Pro is installed & active
3. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping Locations
   
4. From the country dropdown field, select Spain
5. On the right-hand side, locate Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife
6. Make a note of the Region code – GC and TF
7. Navigate to the WooCommerce tax rate settings at WooCommerce > Settings > Taxes > Standard Rates
8. Add a new line, using ES for the country code and GC as the state code with a tax rate of 7%
9. Repeat step #8 but use TF as the state code
10. Select Save changes

Result

When configured correctly, the results are illustrated below:

The post Use Case: Configuring Tax for Spain’s Canary Islands first appeared on CODIBU.

For example, with shipping classes and Flat Rate Shipping, it’s possible to create different flat rate costs for different product types, like bulky items and small items.

Add Shipping Classes

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Classes.
   The screen lists existing classes.
2. Select Add Shipping Class beneath the table. A new row appears.
   
3. Enter a Shipping Class Name and description. Slug (unique identifier) can be left blank and auto-generated, or you can enter one.
4. Save Shipping Classes.

Edit and Delete Shipping Classes

To edit or remove a shipping class:

1. Hover over Shipping Class Name. Options appear.
2. Select Edit to revise the name, slug, or description. Or Remove to delete the shipping class.
   
3. Save Shipping Classes.

Assign shipping classes to products

To apply these rates to a specific class of products (e.g., bulky or heavy items), you need to assign them.

1/ Go to: WooCommerce > Products.

2/ Select the product, and Edit.

3/ Go to Shipping, and select the Shipping Class from the dropdown.

Each product can have one shipping class.

4/ Update the product to save changes.

Bulk-Edit Shipping Classes

To bulk-edit shipping classes:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Products.
2. Select the products you want to edit by ticking boxes on the left-hand side.
   
3. Select Edit from the Bulk Actions dropdown, then Apply. A new screen appears.
4. Select a shipping class from the dropdown.
   
5. Update to save changes.

The post Product Shipping Classes first appeared on CODIBU.

Once this option is enabled, add a product to cart and in most cases you will see useful information on the cart page and/or on the checkout page that explains why shipping costs are different from what you expect, or why they are simply not displayed at all.

We also recommend comparing shipping costs displayed on your WooCommerce site to shipping costs from the carrier’s online rate calculators. Nearly all shipping companies provide such a tool, but it is important that you use the exact same values as what is enabled in the shipping method settings (as they can modify the rates) and ensure that the package(s) used and total weight and dimension are correct.

Common Issues

When you experience an issue, make sure that:

• Weights and dimensions need to be entered for all products, as they are required for the API to successfully return rates. You can read more about how to add shipping info to products the Adding Dimensions and Weights to Products for Shipping document.
• Packaging being used is correct. Debug will show the package weight and dimensions, and some plugins will also have a “Packed” line in the Debug output for further clarity. More info about how box packing can be found in the Understanding Box Packing Calculations document.
• Currency is correctly set. Some plugins require the shop to use a specific currency. If this is the case, it will be specified in the specific plugin’s documentation and you can confirm or change the shop currency on the WooCommerce > Settings > General settings page.
• Shop base location is correct. Some plugins require the shop to have a specific base location. Confirm or change shop location at: WooCommerce > Settings > General.
• API keys are correct. If not, an “Authorization failed” error message will be displayed in the API Response section.
• wp_remote_get() function is enabled on your server. You can verify that there is a checkmark next to the “Remote get” section of the site’s System Status Report on the WooCommerce > System Status > Server Environment page. If this is not the case, contact your host and ask for assistance.
• SOAP is installed and enabled on your server. You can verify that there is a checkmark next to the “SoapClient” section of the site’s System Status Report on the WooCommerce > System Status > Server Environment page. If this is not the case, contact your host and ask for assistance.

FedEx

Online calculator: https://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home

USPS

Online calculator: http://postcalc.usps.com/

UPS

Online calculator: https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PNRO_L1

Australia Post

Online calculator: http://auspost.com.au/apps/postage-calculator.html

Canada Post

Online calculator: http://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

New Zealand Post

Online calculator: https://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/rate-finder

Purolator

Online calculator: https://eshiponline.purolator.com/ShipOnline/Estimates/Estimate.aspx?lang=e

Royal Mail

Online calculator: http://www.royalmail.com/price-finder

2015 Flat Rates: http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-UK-and-international-parcel-and-letter-prices-30-March-2015.pdf

The post Online Shipping Calculators & Debug Mode first appeared on CODIBU.

To set up shipping in WooCommerce, you first set up shipping zones, then add methods to those zones, and lastly, rates to your methods. You can create as many zones as you like, and add multiple methods and rates to each zone.

Shipping Zones

A Shipping Zone is a geographical area to which you ship items. You can get as specific as you need, right down to regions and zip codes, or you can leave it more general – whichever suits you best.

Customers only see the methods available for their address and corresponding zone. Each customer matches only one zone.

For example, you could create these zones in WooCommerce:

Add as many zones as you need, with each zone containing multiple shipping methods.

Adding and managing zones

To set up shipping zones, go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping. If you don’t see Shipping as an option, go back to WooCommerce > General and take a look at settings at Shipping Location(s) – you may need to enable shipping settings there!

The first time you visit WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping, there is a prompt to add a new zone, and a default zone.

Locations not covered by your other zones is used for customers who do not match any of the custom zones you add. Adding methods to this zone is completely optional, depending on your needs.

Since zones match from top to bottom, you can also exclude regions from shipping by adding a zone for that region and assigning no shipping methods to it.

Adding a new zone

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Select Add shipping zone at the top.
   
3. Enter a descriptive Zone Name, and select Zone Regions that apply. Regions can consist of: a) Countries, b) States, c) Continents.
   
4. Select Limit to specific zip/postcodes (if applicable) to further narrow which customers match this zone. For example, you can set a local zone with a specific set of postcodes (one per line); a range of postcodes (e.g. 90210…99000), or use wildcards (e.g. CB23*).
5. Select which Shipping Methods are available to this zone.
6. Save changes.

In the below example, we created three zones – Local, Domestic, and North America – to demonstrate how zones can be set up.

Sorting shipping zones

Shipping zones match customer address from top to bottom — the first to match the customer address is always used. If no custom zones match, then Locations not covered by your other zones is used.

To sort and reorder zones:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Hover and click on the far left handles. A four-point icon appears on the screen.
3. Drag and drop.

Editing shipping zones

To edit a shipping zone:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Hover over Zone Name, and the option to Edit and Delete appear.
3. Select Edit, and a screen appears so you can change the name, regions or shipping methods.
4. Save changes.

To delete a shipping zone:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Hover over Zone Name, and the option to Edit and Delete appear.
3. Select Delete, and the Shipping Zone is deleted.

Adding shipping methods to zones

To add a shipping method to an existing Shipping Zone:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Hover over the Shipping Zone you wish to change, and select Edit.
3. Scroll down to Shipping Methods on the screen that appears.
   
4. Disable an existing Shipping Method by using the button. Or select Add Shipping method to use a different one.
5. Save changes.

For more information about configuring the core shipping methods, see the following related docs:

Removing shipping methods from zones

To remove a shipping method from a Shipping Zone:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
2. Hover over the Shipping Zone you wish to change, and select Edit.
3. Scroll down to Shipping Methods on the screen that appears.
   
4. Hover over the Shipping Method you wish to remove, and select Delete.
5. Save changes.

Control the shipping method selected by default

The default Shipping Method for customers is the top listed, enabled shipping method in the zone that they match.

In this screenshot example, Local Pickup is chosen for customer that matched the Local Shipping Zone.

Drag and drop to reorder shipping methods using the handles on the left, then Save Changes.

You can also control how shipping methods are ordered in the cart page, in the same screen. All the selected shipping methods will be sorted in the cart page, in the same order you followed, to arrange them in this screen.

For customers matching the Local shipping zone parameters, shipping methods appear in the cart in the same order:

How zones work for customers

Using these shipping zones and methods:

• In the 90210 zip code in California, I offer Local Pickup and Free Shipping.
• In the United States, I offer a Domestic Flat Rate.
• In Canada and U.S. regions, I offer a different Flat Rate.

This is what your customers would see if they use the Calculate Shipping option:

CALIFORNIAN CUSTOMER	NON-CALIFORNIAN, U.S. CUSTOMER	INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER

Customization

Snippet: Only show free shipping if available

By default, all methods in a zone are presented to the customer. If you have conditional free shipping and want it to be the only shown method if it’s available, you can use the following snippet to hide other methods:

The post Setting up Shipping Zones first appeared on CODIBU.

This page details how shipping calculators work and ways you can ensure proper setup and calculation.

Product Dimensions vs. Shipping Dimensions

The most important part of all calculators is the individual product page – specifically, the “Shipping” tab available. There, you’ll see weight, length, width, and height, all in the units chosen in your WooCommerce Settings.

It’s important to realize that this area is where you input the shipping dimensions of the product, not the actual, laid out dimensions. Whatever size the item or package will be when it’s shipped will be what you input here, including any extra padding or wiggle room you choose to have.

As an example scenario, let’s say you’re selling movie poster One Sheets – laid out, these posters are 27″ wide, 41″ tall, and 0.01″ thick. However, if we entered those dimensions, we would need a box at least 27.01″ by 41.01″ by 0.02″ thick, something that would certainly result in wasted space and an extremely inflated fee.

Instead, you would likely roll the poster and place it in a tube. One Sheets are rolled so the smallest edge is the height – this means it will roll into a package approximately 27″ by 3″ by 3″. It would be circular, but by establishing these measurements, you’re sure that it fits into the tightest, most reasonable packaging possible.

Box Selection

For most methods, default box sizes will be used depending on the methods you select. These sizes can be found at the following websites.

• USPS
• UPS
• FedEx
• Canada Post
• Australia Post

Using Custom Boxes

In some methods, you can also use your own boxes and envelopes. For this, you’ll need to measure both the exterior dimensions of the packages at their widest points as well as interior dimensions and maximum weight. Note that these boxes will be used alongside the default boxes, not entirely in place of them.

How to see the Calculated Boxes

All shipping methods have a debug mode – this shows the information sent to and from the shipping provider’s calculator, along with what boxes were selected for shipping. The output will vary depending on the method. See the documentation covering Shipping Methods & Debug Mode here.

The post Understanding Box Packing Calculations first appeared on CODIBU.

The best place to start is the Ideas board, where you can view and up-vote existing feature requests, or add your own. Alternatively, suggest it to our support team and we’ll consider adding it in a future release.

The post Feedback & Suggestions first appeared on CODIBU.

Flat Rate Shipping is a free shipping method in WooCommerce that allows you define a standard rate per item, per shipping class or per order.

Flat Rate Shipping works with Product Shipping Classes, adding more power and flexibility.

Setup and Configuration

To use this method it must be added to a Shipping Zone.

1/ Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping.

2/ Hover over the Shipping Zone location that Flat Rate should be added to and select Edit. This will open up a new page where the Flat Rate settings will be set.

3/ In the Shipping Methods box, select Add Shipping Method.

4/ Select Flat Rate from the dropdown.

6/ Select Add shipping method.

7/ Select Edit for each row that you wish to define. Each Shipping Zone can have different (and multiple) Flat Rates if you wish. For example:

This takes you to a different screen.

6/ Enter a Title that displays to customers in checkout.

7/Select Tax Status – Define whether or not tax is applied to the shipping amount.

8/ Enter Cost – This is applied to the entire cart. Add additional costs per item to this field. See Advanced Costs below. This can be left blank to disable Flat Rate except where costs are added for Shipping Classes. Note that what you enter here may factor into the overall cost in the Shipping Classes section (see below), unless you leave it blank.

9/ Save changes.

Advanced Costs

The Cost field allows you to charge a flat rate per item, a percentage based cost or a minimum fee.

Available placeholders:

• [qty] – Number of products in the cart
• [fee] – An additional fee. This fee has two optional arguments.
  • percent – A percentage based on total order cost.
  • min_fee – A minimum amount. Useful when using percentages.
  • max_fee – A maximum amount. Useful when using percentages.

Examples

• 10 + ( 2 * [qty] ) – A base shipping cost of $10 plus $2 for each item in the cart.
• 20 + [fee percent="10" min_fee="4"] – A base shipping cost of $20 plus 10% of the order total, which is at least $4.

Shipping Classes

If you have shipping classes, the interface adds a few more fields:

There is one cost field for each shipping class.

• No Shipping Class Cost – Useful if you use the Per Class option below. Otherwise, use the Cost field.
• Calculation Type – Two options:
  • Per Order – Picks the most expensive option based on shipping costs in the cart.
  • Per Class – Charges shipping for each shipping class.

How to set up Free Shipping for some products and Flat Rate for the rest

If you would like to offer Free Shipping on some products but charge a Flat Rate for others, the best way to set this up is using Shipping Classes.

In this use case, we have set up three shipping classes: Free Shipping, Regular Shipping, and Expedited Shipping.

Once we have all the products added to their respective shipping classes, we can use the following settings to allow for the products in the Free Shipping class to not charge for shipping, while all the other products do.

By setting the Free Shipping class cost to use 0 * [qty], no matter how many products from that class are added to the cart, the shipping cost will not increase.

However, products in the Expedited Shipping class will cost $20 per product from that class (because we’re using 20 * [qty]) while Regular Shipping class products and products that have no shipping class will cost $10 per product to ship (as we’re using 10 * [qty] for each of those options).

This means that if you have one product from each of our three shipping classes, the total Flat Rate cost will be $30 ($20 for one Expedited Shipping product, $10 for one Regular Shipping product, and $0 for one Free Shipping product).

Note: For this to work as described above, it is important to set the Calculation Type to “Per Class: Charge shipping for each shipping class individually” and that the Cost field is left blank.

The post Flat Rate Shipping first appeared on CODIBU.

Setup and Configuration

To offer the free shipping method it must be added to a Shipping Zone and you can add it to as many Shipping Zones as you like. Here’s how:

1/ Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping.

2/ Select a Shipping Zone, Click Edit

3/ Click Add Shipping Method and a modal will display. Select Free Shipping from the dropdown and Add shipping method.

4/ Select Free Shipping in the row you wish to define and select Edit.

5/ This takes you to a different screen to configure the free shipping method for that specific shipping zone.

6/ Enter a Title that displays to customers in checkout.

7/ Open the dropdown next to Free Shipping Requires…

• N/A – Not available, Free Shipping is an option for all customers
• A valid free shipping coupon – A coupon created that enables free shipping
• A minimum order amount – Free shipping is only available if a minimum amount is spent. Set this amount in the Minimum Order Amount field which will appear if you choose this option.
• A minimum order amount OR a coupon – Free shipping is available if a minimum amount is spent or the customer has a coupon that offers free shipping (see below: Create Free Shipping Coupons).
• A minimum order amount AND a coupon – Free shipping is offered only if a minimum amount is spent and the customer has a coupon that offers free shipping.

8/ If you have selected any of the options that include a minimum amount, enter a Minimum Order Amount.

9/ Finally, if you’ve selected any of the options that include a minimum amount, you can choose to apply this amount rule before or after coupon discounts have been applied. Below we explain this is a bit more detail (see: Coupon Discounts: When to Apply Minimum Order Total)

10/ Save changes.

Coupon Discounts: When to Apply Minimum Order Total

Since WooCommerce 4.1, you have the option to choose at what point the Minimum Order Total rule is implemented: before or after coupon discounts are applied.

This next example will help to illustrate the difference.

If you have a rule that the minimum order total should be $20, your customer has a product of $25 in the cart, and they also have a coupon that gives $10 off.

• After discount (Unchecked). In this case, the order amount is $25 – $10 = $15. The customer will not get free shipping according to the minimum order amount rule.
• Before discount (Checked). In this case, the order amount is $25 and the $10 discount is ignored. The customer will get free shipping according to the minimum order amount rule. The coupon discount will still be applied.

Create Free Shipping Coupons

1/ Create a coupon.

• Go to WooCommerce > Coupons.
• Select Add Coupon.
• Select Allow Free Shipping.
• Publish.

More info at: (Coupon Management).

2/ Enable free shipping for coupons.

• Go to the Free Shipping option you set up.
• Select the option A valid free shipping coupon from the dropdown.
• Save changes.

Customers can now use the coupon to get free shipping.

Advanced Options

Enabling or Disabling Free Shipping via Hooks

The free shipping method has an is_available function that can be hooked into:

return apply_filters( 'woocommerce_shipping_' . $this->id . '_is_available', $is_available );

This means you can use add_filter() on woocommerce_shipping_free_shipping_is_available and return true or false.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I set up free shipping for orders over ___ ?

You need to set up at least one Shipping Zone. More at: Setting up Shipping Zones. Then follow steps above in Setup and Configuration, paying particular attention to #7, selecting A minimum order amount from the dropdown, then enter the amount (e.g., $25 or any amount you wish) in step #8.

The post Free Shipping first appeared on CODIBU.

Local Pickup is a method that allows the customer to pick up the order themselves.

Setup and Configuration

To use this method it must be added to a Shipping Zone.

1/ Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping.

2/ Select a Shipping Zone, and click the + icon to Add Shipping Method. A modal window will display.

3/ Select Local Pickup from the dropdown.

4/ Click Add shipping method.

5/ Click Local Pickup in the row you wish to define.

This takes you to a different screen.

6/ Enter a Title that displays to customers in checkout – some shops change the title to Local Delivery, for example.

7/ Select Tax Status – Define whether or not tax is applied to the shipping amount.

8/ Enter Cost – Cost for the option, is applied to entire cart.

9/ Save changes.

Customer view

Customers residing in the zone with this shipping option are able to select this in the cart and during checkout.

Cart view

Checkout view

Custom emails for local pickup

WooCommerce uses the standard order flow when the local pickup shipping method has been selected. For example, the customer receives the same order confirmation email whether local pickup or flat rate shipping has been selected.

To create custom emails, use the guide How to Add a Custom WooCommerce Email.

Disable local taxes when using local pickup

To disable local tax calculations for Local Pickup, add this snippet at the end of your theme functions.php file:

add_filter( 'woocommerce_apply_base_tax_for_local_pickup', '__return_false' );


Regular taxes will be used when local pickup is selected, instead of local taxes.

Changing the location for local taxes

To charge local taxes based on postcode and city for Local Pickup, you need to define the shop’s base city and post code using this code:

The post Local Pickup first appeared on CODIBU.

Include in product price

One option is to include the insurance cost in the price of your products. This, however, has the downside that it gives customers the wrong impression on actual cost of a product.

Alternatives

Other options:

• If the insurance is optional, you can use this code example from Stack Exchange. It allows the customer to choose whether to use shipping insurance or not.
• If the insurance is not optional, our Payment Gateway Based Fees extension may work better. This allows you to add a cost to the payment method to charge an extra fee.

The post Offer Shipping Insurance first appeared on CODIBU.