Introduction

In this tutorial, our main focus will be on the Default Magento Shipping Methods. The application comes with built-in shipping methods that are pre-configured for customers’ convenience. We will guide you through the process of setting up and customize them depending on your store’s needs.

Getting Started

Before we step into configuring the shipping methods you will need to ensure your store’s address is configured correctly. In order to do that, please head to Stores > Configuration.

Once you are there, please expand the “Sales” tab and select “Shipping Settings”. Afterward, please expand the “Origin” section.

Please enter the accurate address of your store and click on the “Save Config” button in order to save your changes.

Afterward, please switch to the “Shipping Methods” section available under the same “Sales” tab.

Very well! Now that you are on the right page, we are ready to begin.

Flat Rate

“Flat Rate” is the only shipping method enabled by default in Magento. It allows you to define a fixed rate that will be applied for shipping costs per item or per order. The “Flat Rate” is easily configurable and preferred by many carriers.

• Enabled - This setting determines whether the “Flate Rate” method is enabled or disabled on your Magento store. If enabled, the shipping method will be displayed on the “Estimate Shipping and Tax” section under your customers’ shopping carts, as well as under the “Shipping” section during checkout.
• Title - From this field, you can define the title for the shipping method which will be displayed during checkout.
• Method name - Here you can enter a title for the calculation method used for this shipping method. The “Method name” will be displayed under your customers’ shopping carts.
• Type - From this dropdown menu you can determine the base of calculation for this method. By default, it is set to “Per Item” which will apply the fixed shipping rate per product for all products added in the customer’s shopping cart. You will be able to select “Per Order” which will apply the fixed shipping rate on the cart subtotal regardless of how many products it contains. The third option is “None” which will not apply any shipping rate, it is equivalent to free shipping.
• Price - In this field, you will need to enter the fixed rate which will be charged for the “Flat Rate” shipping method.
• Calculate Handling Fee - This setting will determine how the handling fee will be calculated in case it is included. You will be able to choose between “Fixed” and “Percentage”.
• Handling Fee - Here you will need to enter the handling fee amount depending on the calculation method you have selected above. In case, you have set it to “Fixed” please enter it as a decimal number (e.g. 2.99). Alternatively, you will need to specify the percentage rate (e.g. .04)
• Display Error Message - The message entered in this field will be displayed to your customers in case the shipping method is unavailable. You can either leave the default message or write a custom one.

• Ship to Applicable Countries - This setting will allow you to determine the countries applicable for “Flat Rate” shipping. By default, the “All Allowed Countries” option is selected which means the shipping method will be available to customers from all counties included in your store configuration. In case, you would like to restrict some countries, please make sure to select “Specific Countries”.
• Ship to Specific Countries - If you have selected “Specific Countries” for the setting above, here you will have to select all the countries which will be suitable for the “Flat Rate” shipping method. You can select the countries by pressing on the “ctrl” key on your keyboard and clicking on the county names.
• Show Method if Not Applicable - From this setting, you can determine whether the “Flat Rate” shipping method will be displayed during checkout even if it is unavailable for the given purchase.
• Sort Order - Here you can enter a value that will control the position of the “Flat Rate” when all shipping methods are listed. As low the value is, the higher the method will be positioned.

Free Shipping

The "Free Shipping" method will allow you to configure specific conditions under which you can offer shipping service out of charges to your customers. By default, this method is disabled, if you would like to enable it on your store, please select the “Yes” option from the “Enabled” dropdown menu.

You will notice that all settings are exactly the same as under the “Flat Rate” section apart of “Minimum Order Amount”. This setting will allow you to specify the minimum purchase amount required in order for your customers to benefit from the “Free Shipping” method.

Table Rates

The “Table Rates” shipping method will allow you to set up a variable shipping rate based on combinations of certain conditions. The data needed in order to calculate the exact shipping rate will be listed in a spreadsheet file that needs to be imported to your Magento store. As you will notice this method is disabled by default, if you would like to enable it, please select “Yes” from the “Enabled” dropdown menu.

Similarly to the previous two methods the main settings here are the same. You will notice only two additional settings that were missing in the above examples.

From the “Condition” dropdown menu you will need to select the combination on which the shipping rate calculation will be based. You can select between the following three options:

• Weight vs. Destination
• Price vs. Destination
• #(Number) of Items vs. Destination

From the following “Include Virtual Products in Price Calculation” you can determine whether this shipping method will be available for your virtual products.

Once you select the “Condition” a CSV filed (in a specific format applicable to the condition) will be generated. You will need to download this file, manually fill your custom rules and then import it in your Magento store. Before we move to that part, please make sure first to click on the “Save Config” button.

Now you will need to change the “Default Config” to “Main Website”.

Once this is done, please go back to the “Table Rates” section by navigating through the left menu Sales > Shipping Methods. Once you are there, you will notice that two additional options had appeared. You will need to click on the “Export CSV” button in order to download the file. After the download process is completed you will need to locate the file on your local computer and edit it with your preferred spreadsheet program. Once you are ready, you will need to click on the “Choose File” button in order to import the CSV file in Magento.

When the upload process is completed, please make sure to click on the “Save Config” button once again.

You will notice some additional shipping methods listed below on this page. The “Magento Shipping” method requires a Magento Shipping account. Counted from September 24th, 2019 the creation of Magento Shipping Accounts is no longer possible. Apart from the built-in shipping methods, Magento also provides the possibility for Internal Carrier integration including UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL. These shipping options will be separately reviewed in other tutorials dedicated to each of them.

At this point, you know how to configure Magento’s default shipping methods. We would recommend you test the shipping methods you have decided to enable on your store and once you confirm everything works properly you will be ready to start shipping products to your customers. We hope you have found our guide useful and easy to follow and we would like to welcome you to contact us in case any questions arise.