How to Stop Default Shipping on WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
Are you tired of WooCommerce automatically adding shipping costs to every order, even when customers want to pick up their items locally or are buying purely digital products? You’re not alone! Many WooCommerce store owners face this issue and want more control over when shipping is applied. This guide will walk you through several methods to stop default shipping on your WooCommerce store, making your customer experience smoother and more cost-effective.
Think of it like this: Imagine you run a bakery. You wouldn’t automatically charge every customer for delivery, especially if they’re just popping in to grab a croissant! WooCommerce, by default, acts a bit like that bakery – assuming everyone needs delivery. Let’s fix that!
Why Stop Default Shipping?
Before we dive into the “how,” let’s understand the “why”:
- Confusing Customer Experience: Automatic shipping can frustrate customers buying digital products or those who want to pick up their order in person. They might abandon their cart when they see unexpected fees.
- Incorrect Pricing: If you sell digital products only, having shipping enabled can lead to incorrect overall pricing for your customers.
- Improved Conversions: A clear and accurate pricing display leads to higher conversion rates. Customers are more likely to complete their purchase if there are no surprises.
- Flexibility: You can tailor shipping options for specific products or customer situations.
- Give the coupon a descriptive name (e.g., “FreeDigital,” “LocalPickup”).
- Discount type: Select “Fixed cart discount” or “Percentage discount”. If selecting percentage discount, you’d enter “100” to remove the whole cart.
- Coupon amount: Set this to an amount large enough to cover any possible shipping cost, or use the “Fixed cart discount” with your normal shipping fee.
- Allow free shipping: Check this box. This is crucial!
- (Optional) Set usage restrictions and limits. For example, you might restrict it to digital product categories or limit its usage per customer.
Method 1: Disabling Shipping Zones (The Quickest Fix for Many)
This is often the simplest and most direct approach if you don’t need shipping at all or want to selectively enable it later.
1. Access WooCommerce Settings: Go to your WordPress dashboard, then WooCommerce > Settings.
2. Navigate to the Shipping Tab: Click on the “Shipping” tab.
3. Remove All Shipping Zones: Look for your existing Shipping Zones. Most stores will have at least a “Locations not covered by your other zones” zone. Hover over each zone and click the “Archive” button to remove it.
Example: Let’s say you have a “United States” shipping zone and a “Rest of the World” shipping zone. You’d archive both of these.
Reasoning: By removing all shipping zones, WooCommerce has no rules to apply, effectively disabling automatic shipping calculations.
Method 2: Using a “Free Shipping” Coupon (For Digital Products or Local Pickup)
This method allows you to offer a “free shipping” option that customers can apply, effectively removing shipping costs.
1. Create a “Free Shipping” Coupon: Go to WooCommerce > Coupons > Add New.
2. Configure the Coupon:
3. Publish the Coupon: Click “Publish”.
Example: You create a coupon named “DIGITALONLY” that gives 100% off shipping. You can then provide this code to customers who are purchasing digital items.
Reasoning: When customers apply this coupon, the shipping costs are effectively negated because the coupon covers the entire shipping fee. This is helpful if you want to only provide free shipping under some circumstances.
Method 3: Setting Shipping Costs to Zero (If You Still Want Shipping Methods)
This approach keeps the shipping methods visible but sets their costs to zero. This might be useful if you *sometimes* offer paid shipping but want it off by default.
1. Access WooCommerce Settings: Go to WooCommerce > Settings.
2. Navigate to the Shipping Tab: Click on the “Shipping” tab.
3. Edit Your Shipping Zone(s): Click on the name of the Shipping Zone you want to adjust.
4. Edit Your Shipping Method(s): For each shipping method within that zone (e.g., Flat Rate, Free Shipping), click “Edit.”
5. Set the Cost to Zero: Change the “Cost” field to “0” or leave it blank.
Example: You have a “Flat Rate” shipping method. You edit it and set the “Cost” to “0”. Customers will still see the “Flat Rate” option, but it will show as “Free” or $0.
Reasoning: Customers will still see the available shipping methods (Flat Rate, etc.), but the cost will be zero, effectively making shipping free by default.
Method 4: Conditional Logic Plugins (Advanced Control)
For more granular control, you can use plugins that offer conditional logic for shipping. These plugins allow you to hide or disable shipping methods based on various factors like product category, customer role, or cart contents.
* WooCommerce Conditional Shipping and Payments: A popular plugin that allows you to restrict shipping methods based on various conditions.
Example: You could set up a rule that completely hides the shipping options if the cart contains only digital products.
Reasoning: These plugins provide the most flexibility, but they often come with a cost. They are suitable for stores with complex shipping requirements.
Method 5: Hiding Shipping Methods Using Code (For Developers)
If you’re comfortable with code, you can use the `woocommerce_package_rates` filter to modify the available shipping methods dynamically.
add_filter( 'woocommerce_package_rates', 'hide_shipping_for_digital', 10, 2 );
function hide_shipping_for_digital( $rates, $package ) {
// Check if the cart only contains digital products
$only_digital = true;
foreach ( WC()->cart->get_cart() as $cart_item ) {
$product_id = $cart_item[‘product_id’];
$product = wc_get_product( $product_id );
if ( ! $product->is_virtual() ) {
$only_digital = false;
break;
}
}
if ( $only_digital ) {
return array(); // Return an empty array to remove all shipping methods
}
return $rates;
}
Explanation:
- This code snippet checks if all products in the cart are digital.
- If they are, it returns an empty array, effectively removing all shipping methods from the cart.
- Add this code to your theme’s `functions.php` file or use a code snippet plugin.
Reasoning: This provides fine-grained control but requires PHP knowledge. It’s useful for specific, code-based requirements. Be extremely cautious editing the functions.php file directly. Consider using a child theme or a code snippet plugin.
Conclusion
Stopping default shipping in WooCommerce can significantly improve your customer experience and accuracy of your pricing. Choose the method that best suits your store’s needs and the level of control you require. Whether it’s simply removing shipping zones or using conditional logic plugins, you have the tools to create a better online shopping experience for your customers. Remember to test your changes thoroughly to ensure everything works as expected!
