Welcome to our comprehensive blog on the five best shipping plugins for WooCommerce. As an e-commerce merchant, we understand how crucial a smooth and efficient shipping process is for the success of your business. With numerous moving parts involved, from rate calculations to label printing and tracking, finding the right shipping solution can have a significant impact on your operations and customer satisfaction.
In this article, we'll explore the five best WooCommerce shipping plugins for 2023 that will simplify your shipping operations, improve accuracy, and enhance the overall customer experience. But first, let’s start with a small introduction to the topic- shipping plugins, their benefits, and types before we proceed further.
What is a shipping plugin for WooCommerce?
A shipping plugin is a software extension or add-on that integrates with your WooCommerce store to enhance its shipping functionality. It extends the capabilities of the platform by providing additional features and functionalities such as real-time shipping rate calculation, label generation, shipment tracking, shipping method customization, and more.
These powerful tools will transform the way you handle shipping, delivering a seamless and extraordinary experience for you and your customers. From advanced rules and personalized pricing to geographic targeting and flexible control, these plugins simplify your shipping woes and streamline the process to make shipping management easy and smooth for your store.
Benefits of shipping plugins for your WooCommerce store
Shipping plugins for WooCommerce offer a range of benefits to online store owners. They help integrate with shipping carriers and provide support like tracking and shipping cost calculations. Here are some key advantages:
Flexibility and customization
Shipping plugins allow you to define your own shipping methods, rates, and rules based on your specific business needs. You can set up various shipping options, such as flat rates, free shipping, table rates, real-time carrier rates, and more.
Integration with shipping carriers
Shipping plugins integrate directly with popular shipping carriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, and others. This enables real-time calculation of shipping rates based on carrier API data, automates label printing, and streamlines the entire shipping process. It also ensures accurate tracking information is available to both you and your customers.
Automated shipping calculations
A shipping plugin simplifies the complex task of calculating shipping rates for you. They do accurate and automatic cost calculations, considering factors like package weight, dimensions, destination, shipping method, and any additional fees to provide accurate cost calculations. This automation saves time, reduces errors, and improves the overall efficiency of your shipping operations.
International shipping support
If you are selling products globally, shipping plugins can help you manage international shipping seamlessly. They offer features like currency conversion, multi-language support, address validation, and customs documentation generation. This makes it easier to expand your customer base beyond local boundaries.
Advanced shipping rules
Shipping plugins often come with advanced rule-setting capabilities. You can define specific conditions and criteria to apply different shipping rates or methods. For example, you can set up different shipping options based on product weight, quantity, category, customer location, and more. This level of customization ensures that your shipping rules align with your unique business requirements.
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Types of shipping plugins available for your WooCommerce store
Now that you know the benefits of shipping plugins, let’s discuss the types of shipping plugins available for WooCommerce.
1. Carrier-specific plugins
These plugins integrate with specific shipping carriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, and others. They allow you to fetch real-time shipping rates, generate shipping labels, and track shipments directly from your WooCommerce store.
2. Multi-carrier plugins
These plugins offer integration with multiple shipping carriers, providing you with more options to choose from. They consolidate carrier services under one interface, making it easier to compare rates and select the best shipping option for your customers.
3. Table rate shipping plugins
Table rate shipping plugins enable you to create custom shipping methods based on various factors like weight, price, quantity, destination, or a combination of these. You can set up a table with specific rules and corresponding shipping costs to calculate rates accurately.
4. Shipping zone plugins
Shipping zone plugins help you define specific geographic regions and apply different shipping methods or rates to each zone. This allows you to cater to customers in various locations with specific shipping requirements.
5. Print label plugins
Print label plugins streamline the label printing process by generating shipping labels directly from your WooCommerce store. They often integrate with shipping carriers and provide label customization options for a professional look.
6. Shipping tracking plugins
These plugins enable you to integrate shipment tracking functionality into your WooCommerce store. They allow customers to track their orders in real time using tracking numbers provided by shipping carriers. This feature enhances transparency and customer satisfaction by providing updates on the status and location of shipments.
7. Shipping tax rate calculation plugins
Shipping tax rate calculation plugins help you accurately calculate and apply taxes to shipping costs. They take into account various factors such as the origin and destination of the shipment, tax rules, and applicable tax rates. These plugins ensure that the correct taxes are applied to shipping charges, helping you stay compliant with tax regulations and avoiding any potential issues. It also helps you maintain transparency with your customers by calculating estimated shipping tax rates at the time of checkout.
8. Freight and LTL plugins
These plugins cater to businesses that deal with large or bulky items that require freight or Less Than Truckload (LTL) shipping services. They help calculate accurate freight charges based on factors like weight, dimensions, and distance.
Remember, the type of shipping plugin for your store depends on your needs. Obviously, for many store owners, one plugin will not suffice. You may need a combination of two or more, depending on the plugin type and your business needs. You can also have an all-in-one plugin if you need all its features for your store. Otherwise, opt for specific plugins to save costs.
Now, let us list the
5 best shipping plugins for WooCommerce for 2023
1. WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes and Shipping Labels
If you are looking for a shipping plugin to generate PDF order invoices, delivery notes, packing slips, dispatch, and shipping labels, we recommend installing the WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes and Shipping Labels plugin for your store.
WooCommerce, by itself, doesn’t have the option to print any of these documents from your orders page. So this plugin helps you print this information and streamline your store’s shipping and order processes.
Features in WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes and Shipping Labels
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Create and print documents for the following from your WooCommerce order page-
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Packing list
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Delivery note
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Shipping label
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Dispatch label
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Invoice
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Customize invoices by adding your brand logo, store name, and tax.
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Choose from classic and standard invoice templates and email PDF invoices to customers.
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Print all labels in bulk from your orders page.
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Disable generating invoices for free orders.
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Set the base address of the store, which you can use in the label as the “Shipping From” address.
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In-built support for tax-related and multi-language plugins.
Benefits of WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes and Shipping Labels
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It makes printing packing slips easy, streamlining the shipping management process.
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The PDF invoice email feature improves customer satisfaction.
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Printing dispatch labels and delivery notes help manage orders easily.
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Invoice PDF branding helps to increase brand awareness among customers.
Pricing
This plugin is free but offers additional paid commercial upgrades or support.
2. Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce
This plugin is a useful tool when you want to provide real-time tracking information for shipments to customers. The Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce plugin connects with various shipping carriers' tracking systems and redirects customers to the shipping carrier websites to provide status updates, including package location, delivery progress, and estimated delivery dates.
Features of Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce
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Rename the WooCommerce order status labels from Completed to Shipped or Partially Shipped.
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Send customers their shipping information through order status emails and on the View Order page.
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Add tracking information to WooCommerce orders when editing the orders or viewing the list.
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Insert multiple tracking numbers in the same order.
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Fulfill the order and send shipment information to the customers when adding the tracking information.
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Select from over 300 shipping providers, and the tracking link will redirect the customers to the shipping provider’s website.
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Import multiple tracking numbers or orders in bulk from a CSV.
Benefits of Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce
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Reduce the time spent on post-shipping inquiries.
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Improve customer satisfaction by providing order tracking details to customers.
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Improve the efficiency of your shipping and tracking processes.
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Automate your store’s fulfillment workflow.
Pricing
It has a free version and the paid version starts at $129 per year for one store.
3. WooCommerce Weight Based Shipping
The WooCommerce Weight Based Shipping plugin takes the guesswork out of calculating shipping costs by focusing on order weight (and more). With flexible pricing options, conditional free shipping, and support for shipping classes, it's the perfect solution to simplify and optimize your shipping process.
This plugin has over 60,000 active installations and offers excellent customer support so that you don’t have to worry about any issues you need to resolve with its features and functionality.
Features of WooCommerce Weight Based Shipping
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Order weight, subtotal, and destination-based shipping cost calculation.
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Ability to create multiple shipping rules for different order destinations, weight ranges, and subtotal ranges.
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Flexible price calculation options, including constant price (like flat rate) or progressive price based on cart weight, or a combination of both.
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Conditional free shipping setup with the option to define a free shipping threshold.
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Support for shipping classes (available in the Plus version) allows customization of the shipping price calculation for each shipping class.
Benefits of WooCommerce Weight Based Shipping
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Easy setup and configuration, making it user-friendly for store owners.
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Provides accurate shipping cost calculations, helping to ensure fair and transparent shipping charges for customers. Increases flexibility and control over shipping rates, allowing you to tailor shipping costs to your specific business requirements.
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Enhances the overall customer experience by providing accurate and competitive shipping rates.
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Streamlines the shipping process, saving time and reducing errors associated with manual shipping cost calculations.
Pricing
Free to download with a paid Plus version for upgraded features and support.
4. Table Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce by Flexible Shipping
This plugin has versatile features, allowing you to set any possible shipping scenarios and calculate rates accordingly. You may, for example, configure different shipping charges based on the amount or weight of the cart, add a handling fee or an insurance cost after a particular order value, or even create a COD delivery option with additional expenses.
These are just some examples. The plugin gives you the flexibility to set different shipping cases and rates. This popular plugin has over 100,000 active installations with the highest number of positive reviews. Another benefit of this plugin is its built-in tutorial to guide merchants at every step.
Features of Table Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce by Flexible Shipping
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Unlimited shipping methods and customizable cost calculation rules.
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Option to add titles and descriptions to your shipping methods for clarity.
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Shipping cost calculation based on cart total and/or weight.
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Set minimum and maximum values for cart total and/or weight.
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Ability to combine costs from multiple rules simultaneously, such as cart totals and weight-based rules.
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Free shipping is available over a specified threshold.
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Option to display selected shipping methods exclusively for logged-in users.
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Automatic notification of shipping zone configuration conflicts.
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Choice between cart value or package value for more accurate cost calculations.
Benefits of Table Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce by Flexible Shipping
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Accurate shipping cost calculation eliminates surprises during the checkout process, reducing cart abandonment and improving conversion rates.
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Gives you the flexibility to offer a variety of shipping options tailored to your customers' preferences and needs.
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You can set competitive shipping costs, attracting more customers to make purchases.
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Helps customers make informed decisions and increases their satisfaction with the shipping process.
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Automatic notification of shipping zone configuration conflicts helps you identify and resolve any issues promptly, ensuring a smooth and error-free shipping setup.
Pricing
Available for free download. Also has a paid Premium version.
5. WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping
The WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping plugin enables you to create customized, flexible, and efficient free shipping options in your WooCommerce store, optimizing the customer experience and supporting the growth of your e-commerce business.
This plugin allows you complete control over your free shipping rates, as well as the ability to establish various condition groups. It has over 50,000 active installations and is easy to set up for your store. It also has amazing customer support, and issues get resolved immediately.
Features of WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping
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Set up advanced rules to determine when free shipping rates should be available for customers.
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Full control over free shipping rates in WooCommerce.
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Create multiple 'OR' condition groups and multiple 'AND' conditions within each group for easy setup of complex free shipping rules.
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Subtotal, quantity, user role, country, zip code, shipping class, category, weight, volume, and other default shipment conditions are accessible.
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Easily add custom conditions through code snippets.
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Ability to add shipping costs to the shipping rates based on weight, item quantity, or with an extra handling fee.
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Set up percentage-based fees for shipping rates.
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Create shipping zones to define specific geographic regions and apply different shipping rules to each zone.
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Set the tax status for the shipping rates.
Benefits of WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping
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Offer customized free shipping options to customers based on various conditions.
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Get full control over free shipping rates.
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Offer pricing that aligns with your business model and enhances profitability.
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Ensure accurate and relevant shipping options for customers in different locations.
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Streamline tax calculations and compliance.
Pricing
Free to download. A paid version with additional features is also available.
So, here it is. These are the 5 best WooCommerce shipping plugins that we recommend for your store. Make a checklist of your shipping requirements and see which of these plugins fits the bill.
Before wrapping up, we have one more suggestion, and this can truly benefit your store. Continue reading…
Have a mobile app for your WooCommerce store
Are you wondering why we are going off track by suggesting a mobile app for your WooCommerce store? We’ll explain this.
Creating a mobile app for your WooCommerce store benefits you in more ways than one. It also helps you a great deal to streamline your shipping management and improve customer satisfaction.
Convenience and accessibility
A mobile app offers convenience and accessibility to customers, allowing them to shop and manage their orders from their smartphones. This means they can easily track shipments, receive notifications, and interact with the shipping process anytime, anywhere, enhancing the overall customer experience.
Enhanced user experience
A well-designed mobile app can provide a seamless and optimized experience, making it easier for customers to navigate through the app, place orders, and track their shipments, leading to improved satisfaction with the shipping process.
Push notifications
You can utilize push notifications to provide real-time updates and notifications regarding shipping status, delivery estimates, and any relevant shipping-related information. These notifications keep customers informed and engaged, increasing their satisfaction and reducing uncertainty about their shipments.
Integration with device features
Native apps can integrate with device features such as GPS, camera, and barcode scanning to enable functionalities like location-based services for personalized shipping options, and quick barcode scanning for tracking packages and capturing proof of delivery, all of which contribute to a more efficient and streamlined shipping process.
Offline access
Some mobile apps offer offline access to certain features and information, such as order history and tracking details. This is particularly useful when customers are in areas with limited internet connectivity. They can still access their shipment information and track their orders without relying on a constant internet connection.
Now that you know how a mobile app can benefit you, create one for your store. And if you are wondering how to go about it, we’ve got you covered. Try the no-code app builder Swipecart.
You can easily create an app without coding in minutes. All the product details are fetched from your store. All you have to do is design the app using Swipecart’s visual interface and WYSIWYG editor. Drag and drop pre-coded widgets into a blank layout, or select a theme and customize it to suit your branding and business requirements.
Moreover, all the WooCommerce plugins you have for your store can be integrated with your app on Swipecart, making it easy to set up your store on the app.
Wrapping Up
Enhance your WooCommerce shipping with the plugins from this list. You can set rules for shipping, accurately calculate shipping rates, print labels for shipping products, and improve shipping efficiency while improving the customer experience.
And don’t forget to try the no-code app builder Swipecart to create an amazing app for your store and maximize customer engagement!
