Royal Mail is a premium shipping method for WooCommerce that lets you calculate shipping costs using Royal Mail rates. The Royal Mail extension can calculate rates for shipping domestically in the UK and worldwide.
Note:
Before you start, set your store’s Country/State to the United Kingdom and the currency to Pound sterling. The extension’s built-in box-packer requires that your non-virtual products have weights and dimensions set. More info at: Adding Dimensions and Weights to Products for Shipping.
Installation
↑ Back to topTo start using a product from WooCommerce.com, you can use the “Add to store” functionality on the order confirmation page or the My subscriptions section in your account.
- Navigate to My subscriptions.
- Find the Add to store button next to the product you’re planning to install.
- Follow the instructions on the screen, and the product will be automatically added to your store.
Alternative options and more information at:
Managing WooCommerce.com subscriptions.
Setup and Configuration
↑ Back to topAdd Royal Mail to each shipping zone where you want to offer its services. Your store must be based in the United Kingdom and use Pound sterling (GBP). Set weights and dimensions for the physical products you ship.
If you haven’t created your zones yet, follow the shipping zones guide first.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones.
- Select Edit for the zone where you want to offer Royal Mail. For example, use a zone whose region is United Kingdom (UK) for domestic deliveries.
- Select Add shipping method, choose Royal Mail, then select Continue. Finish the setup and save the method.
- Check that Royal Mail appears in the zone’s shipping methods and is enabled. Select Edit beside it to configure the services and pricing below.
In the shipping zone, select Edit beside Royal Mail to configure the method:
- Method Title: the name shown to customers when you offer only the cheapest rate.
- Parcel Packing Method: quote each item separately or pack items together. See parcel packing methods below.
- Rate Type: choose Regular prices for Post Office prices or Online prices for online postage. See service availability below.
- Offer Rates: offer all returned rates or only the cheapest rate.
- Services: enable, rename, and reorder services. Use Price Adjustment (£) or Price Adjustment (%) to adjust the quoted charge.
- Review the compensation settings, then select Save changes.
Once the plugin is set up, customers will be offered a choice of Royal Mail rates based on:
- which services & rates you’ve enabled
- the contents of the order
- the origin of the order
- the destination of the order
Debug
↑ Back to top- Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Royal Mail
- Enable Debug Mode and save your changes. Add a product to the cart and enter a shipping address to reproduce the problem. In WooCommerce > Status > Logs, look for a
Rates requestentry around the time of the test and expand its additional context. If your store uses file logging, check thelogsource. After troubleshooting, disable Debug Mode and save your changes.
Service availability per rate type
↑ Back to topAvailability depends on the selected Rate Type, destination, package format, weight, and compensation settings. Enabling a service doesn’t guarantee a quote for every order. The Available on column in Services shows which price types support it.
Within the UK
↑ Back to top- Royal Mail 1st Class and 2nd Class: Regular and Online.
- Royal Mail Signed For® 1st Class and 2nd Class: Regular and Online.
- Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am®: Regular only.
- Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm®: Regular and Online.
- Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Tracked 48, with or without Signature: Regular and Online.
- Parcelforce Worldwide Express 10, Express AM, Express 24, and Express 48: Regular and Online.
- Parcelforce Worldwide Express 48 Large: Regular only; available at select post offices.
International
↑ Back to top- Royal Mail International Tracked, International Tracked & Signed, International Standard, and International Economy: Regular and Online.
- Parcelforce Worldwide Global Priority: Regular and Online.
- Parcelforce Worldwide Global Express and Ireland Express: Online only.
International Signed and Tracked 24/48 with Age Verification are no longer offered by the extension.
Parcel Packing Method
↑ Back to topThere are two packing methods with Royal Mail. Each affects the parcels you send to the plugin for a quote.
Pack items individually (Default)
↑ Back to topEach item in your cart (non-virtual) is sent to the plugin individually. Quotes for all items are combined for the final cost.
Pack items in boxes together (Recommended)
↑ Back to topItems are packed into pre-defined boxes and sent to the plugin for a quote. We recommend this option. See Box-Packing below for more information.
Box Packing
↑ Back to topThere are two different box packers for you to choose between on the WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Royal Mail page, depending on which method works best in your case. Both box packers attempt to group items into the fewest number of packages, utilizing the package(s) that are the ‘best fit’ for the order, based on the dimensions of the products and available space in the packages. However, the approaches are different.
- The Speed Packer is volume-based. These calculations perform better with large quantities but can be less accurate, due to limitations with volume calculations.
- The Accurate Packer rotates each individual item during the packing process, similar to Tetris. This method is usually more accurate, but calculations can take longer for large quantities.
Note:
Test representative orders against the parcels you actually prepare. A calculated fit can differ from how you pack an order.
Setting up box sizes
↑ Back to topMost methods of Royal Mail have fixed sizes and do not require custom box sizes. However, International Mail does require custom sizes and their package sizes can vary.
In the shipping zone’s Royal Mail settings, select Recommended: Pack items into boxes together under Parcel Packing Method. Under International Parcel Sizes, select Add Box and enter the dimensions and empty weight of your boxes.
- Defined dimensions are used for packing, and items will be fit within these.
- Box weight is the weight of an empty box.
How the calculation works
↑ Back to topThe selected packer groups products into eligible packages using their weights and dimensions, then the extension calculates the available services for those packages. If an item exceeds a service’s size or weight limits, that service may not return a quote.
Customer Usage
↑ Back to topCustomers will get quotes based on address input from two places:
- Cart page – Using the shipping calculator
- Checkout page – Filling in shipping and billing forms
Before offering the method to customers, add a physical product with measurements to the cart and enter a delivery address in a configured zone. Confirm that the expected services appear in GBP, then select a service and check the shipping charge. Repeat with a multi-item order and another destination to check packing and service eligibility.
Click & Drop
↑ Back to topRoyal Mail offers a Click & Drop service that you can use to purchase shipping labels online. To use Click & Drop, please follow Royal Mail’s own How to integrate your WooCommerce store guide. For any clarification about integrating Click & Drop, please do reach out to Royal Mail.
Compensation settings
↑ Back to topOpen the shipping zone’s Royal Mail method settings to review these options:
- Show rates above compensation cover: show Royal Mail rates even when the declared package value exceeds the service’s compensation limit. This is enabled on new installations; check the saved setting on an existing store. Clearing it can hide services for higher-value packages.
- Enable Additional Compensation: add the eligible service’s additional compensation fee when the package value exceeds its included cover.
- Ignore Maximum Total Cover for Parcelforce: return Parcelforce rates even when the order value exceeds the service’s maximum total cover.
Showing a rate above the compensation limit doesn’t increase the carrier’s cover. Check the service’s compensation terms before choosing it for a higher-value parcel.
Keep shipping rates up to date
↑ Back to topThe extension calculates quotes from price tables included with the plugin. It doesn’t retrieve a live quote from your Royal Mail account. Keep the extension updated to receive revised Royal Mail and Parcelforce prices. If an installed update includes future prices, those tables become active automatically on their effective date.
Rates sync to the database when the plugin version changes. To sync them manually, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Royal Mail and select Sync rates from local files under Rate database. Check the completion notice for any failures. This reloads the installed tables; it doesn’t download prices from Royal Mail or add account tariffs.
Choose Regular prices or Online prices to match how you buy postage. Account BPL and individually agreed account prices aren’t selectable tariffs. Compare quotes with the matching service, package format, weight band, and Royal Mail price guide.
Troubleshooting
↑ Back to topMy Tax/VAT isn’t applying to Royal Mail
↑ Back to topThe extension treats some services as tax exempt and others as taxable. Check the method’s Tax Status, your WooCommerce tax settings, and the selected service’s VAT treatment in the price guide linked above.
No rates returned/no rates available
↑ Back to top- Follow the Debug instructions to investigate the calculation.
- Check your products have sizes and weights set. Without this, the calculation cannot be performed.
Only some rates are offered
↑ Back to top- Check the enabled services, Rate Type, destination, package size, and weight. Review compensation settings if services disappear for higher-value packages.
Questions and support
↑ Back to topSomething missing from this documentation? Still have questions and need assistance?
- If you have a question about a specific extension or theme you’d like to purchase, contact us to get answers.
- If you already purchased this product and need some assistance, get in touch with a Happiness Engineer via our support page and select this product’s name from the Product dropdown.
