If you sell physical products on your WooCommerce store, you need to configure shipping zones. Your shipping configuration revolves around Shipping Zones, which are the most basic component. How you configure your shipping zones determines the shipping options and rates customers see. This page outlines three steps to configure shipping zones in WooCommerce:
- Create and configure shipping zones.
- Add shipping methods to shipping zones.
- Add shipping rates to the shipping methods.
You can add as many shipping zones or shipping methods as you need to your shipping settings; there’s no limit.
What are shipping zones?
↑ Back to topA Shipping Zone is a geographical area to which you ship items. Shipping zones can be as specific as you need. You can set them to specific postal/zip codes, specific geographical regions, entire countries, etc.
There are two important things to keep in mind about how your customers will see shipping options:
- Customers only see the methods available for their address and its corresponding shipping zone.
- Each customer matches only one shipping zone.
For example, you could create these shipping zones in WooCommerce:
Zone name | Region | Shipping methods |
---|---|---|
Local | California ZIP 90210 | Local pickup |
Domestic | All US states | 2 Flat rates named “standard” and “priority” |
Europe | Countries in Europe | Flat rate shipping |
Adding and managing shipping zones
↑ Back to topTo 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 shipping zone, but you’ll also find the default Rest of the world zone.
The Rest of the world zone is used for customers that do not match any of the shipping 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 shipping zone
↑ Back to top- Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
- Click Add zone at the top.
- Enter a descriptive Zone Name, and select Zone Regions that apply. Regions can consist of: a) Countries, b) States, c) Continents.
4. Click Limit to specific zip/postcodes (if applicable) to further narrow which customers match this zone.
5. Select which Shipping Methods are available to this zone.
6. Click Save changes.
A wildcard can be used to capture all postcodes that share the same beginning, so it is the recommended option for postcodes with non-numeric characters. Examples:
– 902* would capture 90210 and also 90288-1234;
– CB23* would capture CB23 1EX;
– CB2* would capture CB2 3AA and CB23 1EX.
Using wildcards in numeric ranges isn’t supported.
In the below example, we created three zones – Local, Domestic, and North America – to demonstrate how zones can be set up.
Sorting shipping zones
↑ Back to topShipping zones match customer address from top to bottom — the first to match the customer address is always used. If no custom zones match, then the Rest of the world zone is used.
To sort and reorder zones:
- Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
- Click and hold on the far left handles and drag the shipping zone.
- Click Save changes to finish.
Editing and deleting shipping zones
↑ Back to top- Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping Zones.
- Find the Edit and Delete buttons on the right side of the shipping zone.
- Click the Delete button to eliminate the shipping zone.
- Click the Edit button to revise the name, regions, or shipping methods. Click the Save changes button to finish.
Adding shipping methods to shipping zones
↑ Back to top- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones.
- Click the Edit button on the shipping zone where you want to add a shipping method.
- Inside the shipping zone, click the Add shipping method button.
- Then, select the shipping method and click the Continue button.
For more information about configuring the core shipping methods, see the following related docs:
Local Pickup | Documentation |
Flat Rate Shipping | Documentation |
Free Shipping | Documentation |
Disabling and removing shipping methods from shipping zones
↑ Back to top- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones.
- Click the Edit button on the shipping zone from which you want to remove a shipping method.
- Click the switch under the Enabled column to disable the shipping method.
- Click the Delete button to eliminate the shipping method.
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. Check the Sorting shipping zones section to learn how to reorder shipping methods.
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.
How shipping zones work for customers
↑ Back to topBelow is an example shipping zone configuration:
- In the 90210 zip code in California, we offer Local Pickup and Free Shipping.
- In the United States, we offer a Domestic Flat Rate.
- In Canada and U.S. regions, we offer a different Flat Rate.
- For the rest of the world, we offer yet another Flat Rate.
This is what our customers would see if they use the Calculate Shipping option:
Californian customer | Non-Californian, U.S. customer | International customer |
---|---|---|
Customization
↑ Back to topSnippet: 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:
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