How to Create Weight-Based Flat Rate Shipping in WooCommerce

This business use case shows how a WooCommerce store set up different flat rate shipping charges based on the total cart weight.

This helped reduce shipping losses on heavy products and ensured lightweight items remained competitively priced—resulting in better profit margins and fewer cart abandonments.

Overview

Charge shipping based on the total weight of products in a customer’s cart. This setup allows you to assign different shipping fees for light, medium, and heavy orders using weight ranges. (Plugin feature: Weight-Based Flat Rate Shipping)

Revenue/Business Impact Example: A WooCommerce store selling fitness products offers:

• Free shipping for carts under 1kg
• ₹100 shipping fee for 1–5kg orders
• ₹150 fee for carts above 5kg

This structure increased profitability on heavy orders and reduced overcharging complaints from light-product buyers.

Preconditions

• Flat Rate Shipping Plugin is installed and activated.
• All products have weight values set in WooCommerce
• Weight-based conditions are enabled in the plugin

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Access Shipping Settings

Go to: Dashboard → Flat Rate Shipping → Manage Shipping

2. Create Shipping Method for 1–5kg Orders

• Click “Add New Shipping Method”

  Title: Standard Shipping (1–5kg)

  Fee Type: Flat Rate

  Fee Amount: ₹100

  Enable Condition:

  • Cart Weight ≥ 1
  • Cart Weight ≤ 5

3. Create Shipping Method for Above 5kg

• Click “Add New Shipping Method” again

  Title: Heavy Cart Shipping

  Fee Type: Flat Rate

  Fee Amount: ₹150

  Enable Condition:

  • Cart Weight > 5

4. Create Free Shipping for Light Carts

• Click “Add New Shipping Method”

  Title: Free Shipping (Light Cart)

  Fee Type: Flat Rate

  Fee Amount: ₹0

  Enable Condition:

  • Cart Weight ≤ 1

5. Save All Methods

• Ensure all shipping methods are enabled.
• They will appear based on the matching cart weight conditions.

Test the Flow

Cart Example 1: Add products totaling 0.8kg → Checkout

• You should see Free Shipping

Cart Example 2: Add products totaling 3kg → Checkout

• You should see ₹100 Flat Rate

Cart Example 3: Add products totaling 7kg → Checkout

• You should see ₹150 Flat Rate

Alternate Flows

• Combine weight rules with product categories, e.g., only apply fees to “Bulky Items”
• Add order total conditions, e.g., free shipping for orders above ₹2000 even if the weight is high
• Use tooltips or checkout labels like “Shipping based on cart weight” for transparency

Expected Outcome

• Lightweight orders enjoy free or low-cost shipping
• Heavier carts are charged fair flat rates to cover actual shipping costs
• Overall shipping margin improves without frustrating your customers

Smart, scalable, and flexible shipping setup that works for stores selling physical goods by weight.