How to Setup Shipping in OpenCart 2.3.x

The magic of online shopping is hugely dependent on shipping and delivery. After all, that’s one of the reasons we love buying online so much - we can purchase something that’s far away and have it delivered to our doorstep!

That’s why shipping plays such a huge role in E-Commerce. Configuring your shipping methods is usually one of the first steps before launching your online store.

This tutorial will show you how to setup your delivery methods in OpenCart so customers can start shopping from the moment your web store is live.

Here are some important facts about E-Commerce shipping you should know before setting up your delivery methods in OpenCart:

Take notes for your store and make sure that your shipping policy is shown explicitly and as convenient as possible for your customers.

Now, let’s get into the setup.

OpenCart comes packed with 12 native shipping methods in the default installation of the platform. That’s perfectly enough to get you started.

Installing and Enabling the Shipping Methods

In this tutorial, we will show you how to configure 4 delivery methods:

1. Flat Rate
2. Free Shipping
3. Store Pickup
4. Weight Based

To access the shipping settings, go to your OpenCart admin panel, click on Extensions > Extensions and choose Shipping from the extension type dropdown menu. This will appear:

We will install each of them by clicking on the green Plus icon to the right. After this is done, we will click the Edit icon on each of them and configure their settings.

Flat Rate Shipping

Flat rate shipping is a delivery method that has the same cost for any kind of order. For example, we have set a $5.00 flat rate cost for our shipping method, which means that all the customers who choose this shipping method will have to pay the same cost for their delivery.

Free Shipping

For the free shipping method, you need to choose the sub-total that will need to be reached by customers in order for them to use it. For example, we have set a $50.00 total, which means that when a customer adds products that are equal or above that, will be able to checkout with free shipping.

Pickup from Store

This shipping method is convenient if you have a physical store and your customers find it more convenient to come by and pick up their order instead of getting it delivered. The only thing you need to set here is the Geo Zone.

Weight Based Shipping

The way weight based shipping works is you set the tax class of your choice and define the cost per weight unit.

We’ll use the UK Shipping as example. The helper text on Rates shows that we have to write down the rates as follows - Weight:Cost.

So, if the order weight is 5, and we want the cost to be $10.00, we write down 5:10.00.

That’s pretty much it!

Shipping Methods on Checkout in the Storefront

Let’s begin a test order and see how those shipping methods appear in the checkout process.

We have added a product, filled our personal details and reached Step 4: Delivery Method. If you have followed the instructions correctly, you should see all four shipping methods appearing like so:

Now your customers will be able to choose between the delivery method they prefer and start checking out with their orders.

Summary

We hope this was helpful and that you have learned how to setup the shipping methods in your OpenCart store. Let us know if there’s anything more you would like to know in the comments below!

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