The description column in your table of rates allows you to add further instruction with your shipping option’s label. Good examples of this include expected delivery time, pickup address, and pricing incentives. Letting a customer know their order could ship free if they spend a certain amount is a great way to boost your sales, but wouldn’t it be better if you could tell them exactly how much more?
Settings Shortcode
For this exact reason, a special code capability was added to the description field. When entered properly, the shipping method will calculate the difference between the free shipping minimum entered and the customer’s subtotal. The shortcode looks like this:
{free-shipping@99.99}
In blue text you can see the number ‘49.99’. This is the minimum purchase amount for free shipping to appear. Everything else should remain exactly the same. The number in blue can be whatever subtotal amount you like. Both whole numbers and decimals are acceptable.
When the above code appears in a qualifying option, it will be replaced by a number value formatted according to your WooCommerce settings. It’s important to note that this value will be negative if it happens to appear when the customer’s subtotal has exceeded its set value.
Simple Subtotal Example
Let’s take a look at this shortcode in action! For this example, the shop owner charges a flat rate shipping cost of $9,99 for all orders. However, once the customer spends $50, the shipping is free. Based on the Price Ranges example, we will have two rows: one for orders less than $50, and one for orders greater than. This allows us to place the special description only where it’s needed.
The full description reads: Spend {free-shipping@50} more to earn free shipping!
The shortcode will only return the calculated number, so we’ll need a little more of an explanation for the customer. The shortcode does not return any text to allow you to customize the sentence however you like. Now shoppers in the cart will see text like this while checking out with a smaller order:
