Magento shipping methods refer to the price and method of delivering products to customers. Just like Magento payment methods, shipping options are important elements of the customer journey that can influence their purchasing decision.
That said, the more options you provide, the more diverse the experience your customers get. Fortunately, there are different shipping methods available out of the box. So you can create a flexible checkout experience for your customers.
In this guide, you'll learn about the basic shipping settings in Magento 2, review all default Magento shipping options, and discover tips for effective shipping methods management.
Let's begin!
Configure Magento Shipping Settings
Before we get to the shipping methods you need to configure the Magento 2 shipping settings. It is necessary so Magento can calculate the taxes and shipping costs based on the shipping origin.
Thus, navigate to Stores > Configuration > Sales > Shipping Settings and configure Origin and Shipping Policy Parameters.
In the Origin section, you need to set the following information:
- Country
- Region/State
- ZIP/Postal Code
- City
- Street Address/Street Address Line 2
Moving on to the Shipping Policy Parameters section, you define whether to Apply custom Shipping Policy and write your Shipping Policy text to be displayed during checkout.
Magento Shipping Methods
Once you finish with the basic shipping settings, you're good to go and configure Magento shipping methods. They are managed in Stores > Configuration > Sales > Delivery Methods.
There are quite a few Magento shipping options to choose from. So, let's have a look at each of them in particular.
Flat rate
Flat Rate is the standard Magento 2 shipping method that can be applied per single item or per order regardless of product attributes such as size, weight, etc.
There are some similar options every shipping method has, such as Title, Enable/Disable, and Method Name. So, let's pay more attention to the distinctive ones.
1. Define the way the shipping fee is added to the subtotal in the Type field. There are 3 possible options:
- None means no change. In this case, the Flat rate shipping method is equivalent to Free.
- Per Order means the charge is generated for the whole order and not every single item separately.
- Per Item correspondingly means the Flat Rate shipping fee is set for each item and multiplied by the number of items in the cart.
2. Set the Price to charge the customer for the flat rate shipping.
3. Determine the method to Calculate Handling Fee.
4. Set the amount of Handling Fee according to the method you set for handling fee calculations.
Note: if you choose to calculate the handling fee from the order subtotal by the percentage, you should set 0.08 for 8 %, for example.
5. Fill out the Displayed Error Message field with the text customers will see when the flat rate shipping is unavailable.
6. In the Ship to Applicable Countries field, choose if you want to ship to all allowed countries or only to specific ones.
If you've chosen the latter, specify the countries you want to ship to in the Ship to Specific Countries field.
7. Decide whether to Show Method if Not Applicable to determine if the flat rate shipping method will be displayed as an option during checkout even if it couldn't be applied to the order.
8. Set the Sort Order to define the place of the flat rate method in the list of shipping methods.
Once you save the configuration, the Flate Shipping method will be available on the checkout page.
Free shipping
Free shipping is one of the most popular and attractive shipping methods Magento 2 has to offer. It is a great way for merchants to offer customers free shipping based on the minimum order amount and set up cart price rules if the conditions are met.
The free shipping configuration is similar to the previous method.
Table rates shipping
Table Rates is the Magento 2 shipping method where the fee is calculated based on different conditions, for instance, Weight v. Destination, Price v. Destination, Number of Items v. Destination, etc.
This means that the price for the table rates shipping varies depending on your customer address and the number of items they order, or on the number of items and their weight.
Generally, it is very similar to the flat rate shipping method, but there are some distinctive options you need to set up:
1. Choose the Condition under which this shipping method will be generated.
2. Set the Include Virtual Products in Price Calculation option.
Note: virtual products have no weight so, correspondingly, they don't change the results of the Weight v. Destination condition calculation.
Once you finish with the default table rates configuration, you can prepare or update the table rate files.
3. In the Stores > Configuration section switch the Scope to the store view or the website you want to apply this shipping setting to. Two new additional options will appear there.
4. Export the CSV file, update it, and then import it in the field below.
Once done, save the settings and go to the storefront to make several test orders. Choose different destinations and check how the table rate shipping fees are calculated.
In-Store Delivery
The in-store delivery method allows customers to pick up their orders from your physical store. It works with the Magento 2 MSI and uses inventory sources marked as pickup locations.
To configure the in-store shipping method in your store:
1. Enable the in-store delivery method.
2. Set the Method Name to be displayed in the shopping cart and the Title that will be shown on the checkout page.
3. Enter the Price if you'd like to charge your customers for using this method.
4. Define the Search Radius in kilometers. This value will be used to determine the closest pickup location during the checkout.
5. Specify the Error Message for the cases when the in-store delivery is not available.
Note: To use the In-Store Delivery method, you also need to configure the Distance Priority Algorithm to enable the calculation of the closest pickup location.
When enabled, your customers will be presented with the closest pickup location first. However, they still can choose any other convenient location. This way, you give your customers even more flexibility and control over their order.
Magento 2 Shipping Carriers
Along with the default Magento 2 shipping methods, you can also offer your customers third-party solutions, such as DHL, UPS, USPS, and FedEx. So, let's see how you can configure each of them.
DHL Carrier
When the DHL shipping method in Magento 2 is applied, the shipping rate is calculated based on the package dimensions (volume and weight) or the amount of place it occupies, in other words.
So, to configure it, take the following steps:
1. Enable DHL for Checkout to determine whether it will be displayed during the checkout.
2. Give the shipping method a Title and enter the Access ID, Password and Account Number.
Note: you can find this data in your DHL shipper account.
3. Set the Content-Type (Non-Domestic) field.
4. Fill out the Calculate Handling Fee, Handling Applied, and Handling Fee fields as in the previously mentioned shipping methods.
5. Choose Yes in the Divide Order Weight field, so that the order weight is divided into smaller units to ensure the accurate shipping charge.
6. Set the Weight measurement Units to be used for calculations and set the Size.
7. Choose the Documents Allowed Methods and Non Documents Allowed Methods that your store supports.
8. In the Ready Time field specify when the package will be ready for pickup after the order submission.
9. Fill out the Displayed Error Message field with the text customers will see when the DHL is unavailable.
10. By setting Free Method you choose the shipping method you prefer to be used for free shipping offers.
11. Enable Free Shipping Threshold to allow free DHL shipping for orders that meet the minimum amount.
12. Configure the applicable Countries for Shipping, the Visibility if the method is not available, and Sort Order in the same way as in the previous shipping methods.
13. Enable Debug so the log file with error information will be created.
14. Enable the Sandbox Mode to run DHL transactions in a test environment.
UPS carrier
United Parcel Service (UPS) is another carrier you can set up for your store. Some of the configuration steps are similar to the previous method. So, we'll pay more attention to other important details.
1. Choose the UPS Type. You have two options — United Parcel Service and United Parcel Service XML.
2. If you've chosen the United Parcel Service XML, fill out the following fields:
- Add the Access License Number, Password, and User ID. You can see in your UPS account.
- Enter the Gateway XML URL.
- Specify the Origin of the Shipment by choosing a corresponding option from the dropdown.
- Set the Mode to Live if you want to forward data to this shipping method through secure connections.
- Enable Negotiated Rates if there are any.
- Specify if you want a tax to be included in the shipping rate in the Request Tax-Inclusive Rate field.
- Fill out the Shipper Number field.
- Set the Tracking XML URL.
3. Enter the Title of the shipping method to be displayed on the storefront.
4. Proceed with setting up the container description to specify all the details that have to do with the package itself.
5. Fill out handling fees, allowed methods, and countries.
USPS carrier
UPSP — United States Postal Service — is known to be a reliable carrier performing both international and domestic shipments. So, let's have a look at the main configuration steps to integrate this shipping method into Magento.
1. Enable the shipping method, set its Title, and set other common fields following the example of the carriers described above.
2. Specify the User ID and Password you can grab from your USPS account.
3. Add the Gateway URL and the Secure Gateway URL.
Note: the preset Gateway URL doesn't need to be altered and can be used as is.
4. Move to the packaging description and fill out the following fields:
- Packages Request Type
- Container
- Size
- Machinable (here you specify if you want the packages to be packed by a machine)
- Maximum Package Weight
5. Set the handling fee, as well as the shipping methods and country restrictions.
FedEx carrier
As many shipping methods as we already mentioned, this is still not it. We're yet to consider the FedEx carrier, another shipping service that offers its services around the globe. Thus, we're moving on to the configuration steps you need to take.
1. Enable FedEx for Checkout and set its Title.
2. Add the following credentials from your FedEx shipping account:
- Account ID
- Meter Number
- Key
- Password
3. If needed, choose Yes in the Sandbox Mode field to test the carrier first.
4. Move on to the packaging description to fill out the packaging and weight specifics.
5. Similarly to the previous examples, enter the handling fee, and specify the applicable methods/countries.
After you configure the Magento shipping methods for your store, don't forget to Save the settings.
This is how you can display Magento shipping methods on the storefront. However, everything depends on the configurations.
Manage Shipping Methods in Magento
Any Magento shipping integration we've reviewed will help you make your checkout more flexible and user-friendly. Yet, enabling them is not the only thing you need to do.
It's important to manage the shipping options effectively to deliver the best experience. Here are some of the options you should consider.
Set default shipping method on checkout
Even the smallest details matter when it comes to the checkout page. The fewer steps customers have to take, the more likely they are to go through with the purchase.
Knowing the tendencies in your store, you can set a default shipping method to simplify the checkout experience.
Setting up the default shipping method
Correspondingly, the shipping method will be preset on checkout and won't require any extra actions from shoppers.
Change shipping method for orders
Nobody is safe from small mistakes. Especially, when filling out multiple fields on checkout. Thus, you should be ready to help your customers with fixing those.
Havnig a way to change a shipping method for the created order, as well as edit shipping rates will definitely come in handy.
Changing the shipping method for an order
If you manage to provide support promptly and edit orders without canceling them, you avoid tons of inconsistencies for you and your customers.
What Shipping Methods to Choose?
There's no universal solution when it comes to choosing the Magento shipping methods for a store. Everything is very case-specific and depends on various factors.
The table rates method is a popular choice for many, while DHL, FedEx, UPS, and USPS do not fall behind either. However, you should take into account your business scale, the markets you cover, and their specifics.
Then, once you have a global picture, you can determine which shipping methods are the most worthwhile for your business.
The more flexibility you offer, the more likely your customers are to finalize the purchase, increasing sales in your Magento store. Thus, make sure you take the most out of Magento shipping methods and use them effectively.
FAQs
