How to add category-based Flat Rate shipping in WooCommerce

Want to charge different shipping rates for different product categories?

With category-based Flat Rate shipping in WooCommerce, you can customize fees per category—making your shipping costs smarter and more profitable.

Category-based Flat Rate shipping lets you apply specific shipping rates depending on the category of products in the customer’s cart. (Plugin feature: Category-Based Shipping)

For example, heavier or fragile items might require higher shipping costs, while lightweight or digital items could have free or lower-cost shipping.

This approach ensures you recover shipping costs accurately and keep your pricing transparent.

Preconditions

• WooCommerce is installed and set up.
• Flat Rate Shipping Plugin is installed and activated.
• Product categories are already created in Products → Categories in WooCommerce.

Step-by-Step Instructions to Set Up

Step 1 – Access Flat Rate Shipping Settings

1. Go to Dotstore → Flat Rate Shipping in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Click the “Add New” button.

Step 2 – Create a Shipping Rule for a Specific Category

1. Title: Enter Furniture Shipping Fee .
2. Fee Type: Flat Rate.
3. Fee Amount: Set your desired amount (e.g., $200).
4. Scroll to Conditions → Select Product Category.
5. From the dropdown, choose the relevant category (e.g., Furniture).
6. Save the shipping method.

Step 3 – Test Your Setup

1. Add a product from the Furniture category to your cart.
   • Go to checkout → Shipping fee should show ₹200.
2. Add a product from another category with a different rule → Fee should match the rule you set.

Alternate Uses

• Offer free shipping for certain categories like “Accessories” to promote sales.
• Charge a handling fee for fragile categories like “Glassware” in addition to shipping.
• Combine category rules with location rules (e.g., extra fee for shipping large furniture to remote areas).

(Internal Note: Multiple conditions in the plugin work using AND/OR logic, allowing complex shipping fee rules.)

Business Benefits

• Accurate cost recovery for categories with varying shipping needs.
• Better customer experience through transparent pricing per category.
• Increased profit margins by preventing undercharging for bulky or costly-to-ship products.
• Promotional flexibility to offer free or discounted shipping on targeted categories.

Expected Outcome

Once configured:

• Customers will see shipping fees based on the product category in their cart.
• You’ll avoid flat, one-size-fits-all rates that don’t match actual shipping costs.
• Your store will have a more flexible, competitive shipping structure.