Custom Magento 2 Shipping Extensions: A Way to enhance Customer Shopping Experience

Selling products on an e-commerce store is an amalgamation of several steps and processes. As a merchant, your job only ends when the products reach your customer and they delight him. You may have built a Magento store with beautiful design. You may have a robust selection of products. But, if the products don’t reach your customer on time or the shipping process is not as streamlined as it requires to be, you may lose your customers.

Gone are the days when merchandising and payments were the top challenges for online retailers. Over time, the focus has shifted to shipping and fulfillment. Customers want their product to reach them faster and safer than before. They want to know the exact shipping cost so that they can determine the product’s worth. It is an important determinant of customer satisfaction.

Native Magento Shipping: Customization Issues

Native Magento features include shipping solutions. But the product is still in its nascent stage. It doesn’t allow for customization of shipping methods and discounts. It also doesn’t support all local courier services. Luckily, the Magento community offers personalized business solutions in the form of custom Magento shipping extensions.

What Magento extensions make Shipping more Simpler?

Even though Magento offers a shipping solution under the Magento Shipping name, the services are not available for every courier service and country. In such situations, you will require a Magento extension that offers a simplified and automated shipping process.

a. CouriersPlease Shipping Method Extension

CouriersPlease is a subsidiary of Singapore Post (SingPost). It offers nationwide shipping services across Australia. If you are doing business Down Under, you need to offer CouriersPlease shipping to customers. It is because the service is popular and reliable. With the help of Magento 2 CouriersPlease shipping method extension, you will be able to show real-time shipping rates to your customers.

Once you register with CouriersPlease and get access to its API key, you simply need to integrate it with the extension. The extension will fetch live shipping data and calculate the cost for your customers. The shipping fees are calculated on the basis of quantities, dimensions, weight, origin address and destination address. Here are the features of the Magento 2 extension:

1. You can show/hide the extension easily.
2. It supports domestic/international shipping.
3. You can customize shipping to all allowed countries or choose specific countries.
4. You can set Live mode or Test mode depending on your preferences.
5. You can set the origin country for shipping, handling fee, tax rate, etc.
6. The extension will use the suggested length, width, and height of products (in cm.) in situations when product specifications are unavailable.
7. You can also set a default weight which will be used when a product’s weight is not available.
8. You can edit and show CouriersPlease error message.

b. Fastway Shipping Method Extension

The extension is commonly used in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Similar to the previous extension, the M2 Fastway shipping extension offers reliable and accurate shipping fees to the customers. You simply need access to API key for the Fastway shipping service and the rest will be managed automatically. The good news is that Fastway Couriers API is available free of cost.

Customer will be able to view real-time shipping rates.

The shipping fee will be calculated on the basis of product quantity, weight, origin address and destination address.

1. You must set products accurately as the shipping rates are calculated on the cubic weight of the cart.
2. You can configure the settings to use Parcel/Satchel and/or Box services.
3. You can manage Frequent Rate easily.
4. You can add your handling fees without any problem.
5. You can show delivery estimates to the customers.
6. You can allow shipping to specific countries or choose all countries from the total serviceable list of countries.
7. You can customize an error message when shipping is not allowed for a specific location.

c. E-go Shipping Method Extension

Another popular courier service in Australia is the E-go shipping services. If you are using its services for shipping products to your customers, you must use the Magento 2 E-go shipping extension. It will streamline the shipping process and give a clear estimate of shipping rates to the customers.

1. E-go offers free shipping estimate service which means you do not need to register with the company to fetch information from their API.
2. You can set the title, shipping label and pickup from the extension.
3. You can also customize default height, weight and depth of the product.
4. It will calculate the shipping cost per product.
5. The extension will calculate distance using ZIP code and city name.
6. You can edit the error message from the extension.

Magento 2 Shipping Extensions: Choose what suits you

After understanding the features of different shipping method extensions, you must have realized that all of them have similar features. Your choice depends on the chosen courier company. Once you are sure of the shipping company, you can select the associated shipping extension and install it on the Magento store.

If you do not find specific extension for the courier company, you can always customize the existing extensions to suit your needs and preferences. Make sure you work with a reputed Magento extension development company who can build new custom Magento modules with clean codes.

Now you can install Magento CouriersPlease shipping extension, Fastway shipping method extension or the Magento 2 E-go shipping extension quickly. If you need an extension for a specific courier service, the company can create new Magento extensions to address your business needs.

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