How to Configure Flat Rate Shipping Method in Magento 2?

As a Magento 2 store owner or admin, you must have detailed knowledge about Magento 2 shipping settings. Due to the high competition, configuring the settings correctly can help you gain competitive advantage and improve your Magento store’s sales. If you are worried about your store’s sales, then we recommend that you refer to our article on how to utilise AI to boost your Magento sales.

Coming back to our original topic, Magento 2 shipping settings offer various options. One is the table rates shipping method where the shipment cost is based on different variables. In other words, the shipment cost is not fixed but subject to change according to the variables such as weight, dimensions, shape, and more. This offers greater flexibility to customers and store owners.

For more information, refer to our detailed guide on how to set up table rates shipping method in Magento 2. The other option is to set up a flat rate shipping method. In this method, a uniform price is charged regardless of the item’s dimensions as long as they don’t exceed a certain limit. In this tutorial, we will see how to configure flat rate shipping method in Magento 2.

Benefit of Flat Rate Shipping Method

Simplified Pricing

This shipping method is much simpler compared to other method. Customers know that they must pay a specific fee regardless of the product weight or package dimensions.

Easier Budgeting

From a business perspective, store owners can easily assess the money they must spend on shipping. This makes financial management easier.

Reduces Cart Abandonment

Store owners can display the shipping costs along and the product price together. Since customers know the full price upfront, they are less likely to abandon the cart. In comparison, when shipping costs are displayed at the end as in table rate shipping, cart abandonment rate is high since the total cost may exceed the user’s budget.

Less Errors

There’s less risk of making errors when calculating the shipping rates since the rate is fixed regardless of the variables.

Drawbacks of Magento 2 Flat Rate Shipping Method

Overpaying

The number one drawback of this shipping method is that customers may overpay for smaller items for whom the actual shipping rate is low. The customers may perceive it as unfair. This can lead to a negative user experience and customers will be hesitant to engage in a repeat purchase.

No Flexibility

Another drawback is that this method is inflexible as it fails to account for different weights, dimensions, and other variables. This makes it unfeasible for businesses that sell customisable products.

Magento 2 Shipping Settings – How to Set Up Flat Rate Shipping Method

• Go to Magento 2 Admin Area.
• Navigate to Stores -> Settings -> Configuration.
• Under Sales, select Shipping Methods.
• You will see all the available shipping methods.
• Expand the Flat Rate option.

Flat Rate Shipping Method Configuration

Let’s elaborate these options one by one.

• Enabled: Choose ‘Yes’ to enable. When enabled, the Flat Rate shipping option will be displayed in the Estimated Shipping and Tax section of the Shopping Cart and also in the Shipping Methods section during checkout.
• Title: The title is the name that your customers see as the name for this shipping method during checkout. Change it to something that makes sense to customers such as ‘Standard Shipping’ etc.
• Method Name: It is the internal name that describes the method of calculation used to produce a shipping estimate.
• Fixed
• Percentage
• Type: This setting is very important but easily overlooked. It defines the type of calculation to determine the flat rate. The 3 options are:
• None: This type sets Flat Rate to zero which means no shipping rate or free shipping.
• Per Order: Sets the flat rate for an entire order.
• Per Item: Sets a separate flat rate for each item in the cart. The total rate is calculated by multiplying the flat rate with the number of items in the cart. The multiplication is done irrespective of the nature of items in the cart.

Configure Flat Rate Price & Handling Fee

• Price: The actual price you want to charge customers for Flat Rate shipping. This price will be displayed for an order when you choose the Per Order option or will be multiplied with the number of items in the cart if you choose the Per Item option under the Type dropdown.
• Calculate Handling Fee: Handling fee is the fee that covers the cost of warehouse storage, packing and shipment etc. and are charged on top of the order subtotal or shipping fee. You can calculate the handling fee either by fixed or percentage amount using this option.
• Handling Fee: The actual amount you want to charge to cover the handling expenses. If you have chosen the Percentage option in the Calculate Handling Fee and you want to charge $5 as the handling fee, enter 0.05, not 5%. For a Fixed amount, simply enter 5.
• Displayed Error Message: Enter a custom error message that you want to display when a customer chooses Flat Rate but it’s not available for some reason.

Restrict Flat Rate Shipping for Specific Countries

• Ship to Applicable Countries: Choose All Allowed Countries if you allow Flat Rate shipping to all countries or select specific countries.
• Sort Order: Set the order for Flat Rate to display with other shipping methods during checkout.
• When done, click Save Config.

Magento 2 Multiple Flat Rate Shipping Restrictions

In some cases, store admins may want to create multiple flat rate shipping restrictions. In that case, you’ll need a third-party extension. Using our Magento 2 Shipping Restrictions Extension, you can easily restrict shipping options based on various variables, including specific days, time, customer groups, store views, and more. After creating the restrictions, the user can set the priority for each.

Also check our ready-made solution to add in your store.

Conclusion

In conclusion, configuring flat rate shipping method is important if you charge a uniform shipping amount. This payment method, however, does not suit most stores as well as customers because different stores sell items of different dimensions and ship them to different locations, hence they should be charged accordingly.

Got Questions? If you have any issue in configuring Flat Rate Shipping Method in Magento 2, you can contact our support team by submitting a ticket here.