How to Hide Shipping Methods in WooCommerce: A Complete Guide to Customizing Shipping Options for Your Store

Introduction

Shipping is a vital component of the online shopping experience, and WooCommerce offers a wide range of options for customizing how shipping methods are displayed and managed. However, there are situations where showing all available shipping methods to customers may not be ideal. For instance, specific shipping options might not be applicable to all products, order values, or customer locations. Hiding unnecessary or irrelevant shipping methods can streamline the checkout process, reduce confusion, and provide a more tailored experience for your customers.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can hide shipping methods in WooCommerce based on various conditions, from customer location and order weight to product type. With a step-by-step guide and the right tools, you’ll be able to optimize the shipping options available to your customers, enhancing their experience and potentially improving conversion rates.

Why You Should Hide Shipping Methods in WooCommerce

WooCommerce provides store owners with many shipping options, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every option should be visible to all customers. Here are a few reasons why you might want to hide certain shipping methods:

1. Location-Specific Shipping Options: Not all shipping methods are available in every region or country. For example, express shipping may only be available for domestic orders, while international customers might only be eligible for standard shipping. Hiding irrelevant options ensures customers are only shown methods that apply to them.
2. Cart Value and Weight Restrictions: Shipping costs often vary based on the weight or total value of a customer’s order. You may want to hide options like free shipping if the customer hasn’t met the minimum order amount, or exclude heavy items from certain low-cost shipping methods.
3. Exclusive Shipping Promotions: When running promotions like “Free Shipping on Orders Over $50,” hiding other shipping options (such as paid shipping methods) can simplify the checkout process. It also ensures customers don’t mistakenly choose an option that doesn’t apply to their order.
4. Custom Shipping Conditions: Sometimes, store owners want to create complex shipping rules for specific products, categories, or customer groups. For example, offering free shipping on one product category, but requiring customers to pay for shipping on another category. Hiding certain shipping methods can help achieve this.

Using the WooCommerce Hide Shipping Methods Plugin

While WooCommerce doesn’t have built-in functionality to hide shipping methods, third-party plugins can add this ability. One such plugin is the Hide Shipping Method WooCommerce plugin, which allows you to easily configure shipping rules based on various conditions.

Let’s go through the installation and setup process for this plugin:

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. In the search bar, type WooCommerce Hide Shipping Methods.
3. Click Install Now and then Activate after the plugin has been installed.

Once the plugin is activated, it will add new options under the WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping menu, where you can start configuring your shipping rules.

Step 2: Configuring the Plugin

The WooCommerce Hide Shipping Methods plugin offers various options for customizing your shipping methods. Let’s go over some of the most useful settings:

1. Hide Shipping Methods Based on Cart Total or Weight You can hide certain shipping options if the customer’s cart doesn’t meet certain criteria. For example, you might want to display free shipping only when the cart total exceeds $50, or hide a certain shipping method for heavy products.
   • Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Hide Shipping Methods.
   • Under the Shipping Method Rules, you can define rules such as:
     • Hide options based on the cart total, weight, or quantity.
     • Define the minimum or maximum cart value for showing certain shipping methods.
2. Location-Based Restrictions Shipping options often depend on where the customer is located. For instance, some shipping methods may only be available within specific countries or regions. You can hide shipping methods based on the shipping country, state, or postcode.
   • Under WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping Zones, configure the shipping zones for different regions and apply the shipping methods that apply to each zone.
   • The Hide Shipping Methods plugin can then be used to hide methods that are not available in certain locations.
3. Role-Based Shipping Methods If you offer different shipping options for different user roles (e.g., regular customers, wholesale buyers, or VIP customers), the plugin can hide specific methods based on the user’s role. This allows you to customize the shipping experience for different customer groups.
   • For example, you may want to offer free shipping for VIP customers or apply a discount on shipping for wholesale customers.
   • Go to the Hide Shipping Methods settings and set rules based on user roles.
4. Product-Based Restrictions Certain products may not be eligible for specific shipping methods due to their size, weight, or fragility. For instance, bulky items might require special shipping services that can’t be used with smaller, lighter products.
   • In your shipping rules, specify conditions to hide specific methods for certain products or product categories.
   • You can use product attributes, categories, or tags to define the criteria for hiding shipping methods.
5. Conditional Shipping Messages When hiding shipping methods, it’s important to provide your customers with helpful information to avoid confusion. The plugin allows you to show conditional messages when shipping methods are hidden.
   • For example, if a shipping method is unavailable for a certain location or cart value, you can display a message like “Free shipping is only available for orders over $50.”
6. Testing Your Shipping Rules After setting up the rules, it’s essential to test them to ensure that they work correctly. Place test orders with different products, weights, and quantities, and check that the correct shipping methods are displayed.You can also test the rules for various customer roles or shipping addresses to confirm that only the relevant shipping options are shown.

Step 3: Advanced Shipping Method Customization

For more advanced users, WooCommerce allows you to write custom code to further refine your shipping options. If you’re familiar with coding, you can add custom conditions to your shipping methods by modifying your theme’s functions.php file.

For example, you can use the woocommerce_available_shipping_methods filter to programmatically remove specific shipping methods based on custom conditions. Here’s a basic example of how you might hide a shipping method based on the total cart value:

phpCopy codeadd_filter('woocommerce_available_shipping_methods', 'hide_shipping_methods_based_on_cart_value', 10, 2);

function hide_shipping_methods_based_on_cart_value($available_shipping_methods, $package) {
    $cart_total = WC()->cart->total;
    if ($cart_total < 50) {
        unset($available_shipping_methods['free_shipping']); // Hides free shipping
    }
    return $available_shipping_methods;
}

This code snippet removes the “Free Shipping” option if the cart total is below $50.

Important Note: Always back up your site before making any code changes, and consider testing on a staging site to avoid disrupting your live store.

Conclusion

Customizing the shipping methods available to your customers can drastically improve their shopping experience. By hiding irrelevant or inapplicable shipping methods, you can simplify the checkout process, reduce confusion, and make the customer’s journey more intuitive. Whether you use a plugin like WooCommerce Hide Shipping Methods or opt for custom coding, the ability to fine-tune your shipping options is a powerful tool for store owners.

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily hide shipping methods based on cart conditions, customer location, user roles, or product types. These customizations not only help improve customer satisfaction but can also help you manage your shipping costs more effectively. Consider experimenting with different rules and conditions to find the best setup for your WooCommerce store.