How to Set Conditional Free Shipping By Country, Weight, or Cart Value

Free shipping is a strong motivator when it comes to customers making purchase decisions. Promotions such as “Spend $100 to get free delivery” are taking direct advantage of psychology, transforming shipping fees from a penalty into a goal. Rather than leaving their cart, shoppers are prompted to buy more and thus spend more in order to be eligible for free shipping.

Providing free shipping with lifetime validity across your entire store is seldom ever feasible. This varies depending on the destination, product weight, order value, etc. and being able to absorb that cost on every order you process can rapidly eat away at profit margins.

This is where conditional free shipping comes into the picture. PrestaShop already includes natively all the necessary tools for setting up those delivery conditions adapted according to your requirements. Plus, Prestashop modules also offer some exciting customised free shipping solutions that we will come to know in this interesting blog post. 

What is Conditional Free Shipping in PrestaShop?

Rather than offering free shipping on all purchases, some sellers only offer Prestashop free shipping on particular orders. These requirements permit store owners to configure their shipping incentives according to profitability and operational restrictions.

Three major types of conditioned free shipping can be used in any e-commerce shop. 

Free Shipping on Cart Threshold

The first is a cart threshold, like “Free shipping on orders above $100.” This requirement encourages shoppers to spend more in their cart, and it’s one of the most powerful methods for increasing AOV.

Zone-Based Regulations

Merchants can provide free delivery to customers from selected countries, where postage is visible or predictably cheap, and else charge the standard international rates. It is particularly advantageous for shops that serve domestic and worldwide markets.

Free Shipping Based on Weight

In this case, free shipping is only available for lightweight orders and heavier packages are charged as if they were made under the standard model of shipment. 

All these conditions are covered by carriers, zones and ranges with the standard PrestaShop system. But as your store grows, it may become complicated to manage several rules.

Benefits of Conditional Free Shipping for Business

With strategic use, conditional free shipping can bring significant business advantages. It is an excellent way to up average order value. 

Undisclosed shipping fees continue to be one of the main reasons customers walk away from purchases. Add conditional free shipping into the mix, and you have taken away that friction by putting delivery costs within reach. The result is a better checkout experience.

There’s a reason that merchants aren’t willing to provide free delivery for small, heavy or low-value orders; the shipping would cost more than they’d make on the order. Weight and zone rules allow setting up costs for shipping inside a controllable range, especially for shipments in foreign countries.

Example: One retailer announced it would add free shipping on orders of more than $80, but only for domestic customers. Conversion rates are up 15% in just one month, and shipping has not increased (cannot ship to Europe).

With a mix of customer incentives and payment-for-use mechanisms in play, conditional free shipping is a scaling strategy that should foster both growth and health.

How to Set Conditional Free Shipping in PrestaShop

To make the most of your Prestashop shipping strategy (Cluster 3), ensure you opt for the right conditional delivery options available to you, like:

1. Free Shipping Based on Cart Value

To enable free shipping according to the cart amount in PrestaShop, navigate to your admin panel and visit Shipping → Preferences. There, you'll see the option Free Shipping Starts At. It means you can set a minimum order value or weight at which delivery will become free.

Type the amount of money you want to spend there (e.g. $100) and save your changes. After enabling, PrestaShop automatically enables free shipping when the cart total equals or is above this value. This is set at the global level and applies to all eligible carriers and zones unless otherwise overridden.

You can fine-tune this arrangement to restrict the carriers you want in certain currencies or regions. For instance, free delivery may only apply to orders in USD or for domestic shipping areas. It will also ensure that international or otherwise high-cost markets are left out.

Once set up, test various cart situations to ensure the rule is functioning correctly.

2. Free Shipping by Country/Zone Configuration

To apply free shipping by country/zone, go to Shipping → Carriers and select the carrier you want to apply it to. In the carrier configuration, you can also enable it for specific zones or countries where you'd like to provide free delivery.

Then you modify the prices to be 0 shipping for those areas. For example, you could provide free shipping in France, but maintain normal rates for the UK or other international destinations.

This is perfect for the merchant that wants to incentivise local customers, or it can be an effective way of handling international shipping. With PrestaShop shipping rules by country, you can customise your delivery offer without affecting international margins.

Always try checkout behaviour with locations in different zones to check if the zone-based rules are being applied.

3. Setting Up Free Shipping by Product Weight

Weight-based free shipping is set up for carriers. Navigate to Shipping → Carriers → Ranges and check if your carrier is set up with weight-based conditions (not by price).

Categorise with something like “0-2 kg free, including shipping and normal charges for heavier. Thus, for instance, shipment may be free on orders tder 2 kg, while above 5 kg.

This configuration is beneficial when stores sell both light and oversized goods. Weight-based shipping PrestaShop is aimed at creating a balance in your logistics costings, whilst still providing aggressive delivery incentives wherever applicable.

Make certain that the product weights are accurately configured in your catalog, as invalid data can cause rules to not apply properly.

4. Using the Free Shipping & Delivery Manager Module to automate this

PrestaShop itself is an ok tool for most simple conditions, but complex rule sets get out of hand. Stop doing everything the hard way! The FME Free Shipping & Delivery Manager Module makes it easy by allowing you to apply those conditions via one simple interface.

With this module, sellers can mix conditions like cart amount, country and weight in one rule. Also, they can use the schedule features to set up time-based marketing like seasonal sales, weekend sales. 

Moreover, dynamic messages like “You’re only $10 away from free shipping!” are shown in a dynamic manner in order to inspire users to raise their cart value.

The module makes the error-free process of conditional free shipping calculation time-saving and customer-friendly in PrestaShop.

How Conditional Free Shipping Can Boost Your Sales

Here’s how a PrestaShop store merchant can make use of the free shipping module effectively:

• Feature thresholds on banners, product pages and at checkout so customers know what they have to spend.
• Recommend relevant items that customers can use to reach a minimum purchase value. This tactic allows for greater cart value without margin diminishment.
• Experiment with different dollar thresholds, for instance $50 vs. $75, to find the financial services equivalent of the perfect shoe color. Outcomes also tend to differ by product and region.
• Promotions such as “Free shipping on orders of $60 or more this Black Friday” generate urgency and link the incentive for free shipping with the promotion.

A PrestaShop module for free delivery takes much of the grunt work out, and makes these optimisations achievable a lot faster.

Mistakes to Avoid While Creating Conditional Shipping Rules

One typical error is to set weight or price ranges incorrectly, which can lead to free delivery being applied inadvertently or not at all. Always review ranges carefully.

Carrier overlapping rules are another problem. Contradictions can arise with multiple carriers in the same zone and range. “Optimise settings and regularly check the restrictions for PrestaShop carriers.

The neglect of regional tax differentials may also bust the thresholds. Make sure the tax display is consistent with shipping terms.

Finally, never launch without testing. At all times, try to confirm whether or not combinations of cart value, country and weight actually give you PrestaShop delivery conditions as expected.

Conclusion

Conditional free shipping enables PrestaShop shop owners to lock more sales and not advertise the cost of delivery. You can set up a rule based on the value of the shopping cart, the country they are from, or how heavy the package is and reward orders that make you good money without eating into your margins.

Default tools of PrestaShop help with basic setups, but complex automation is easily achievable through FME’s Free Shipping & Delivery Manager Module. It takes the complexity out of building rules, messaging and campaign management.