E-Commerce Shipping

Group Cart Items into Multiple Packages in WooCommerce

When fulfilling WooCommerce orders, most stores choose to ship all products together in one package for simplicity and cost efficiency.

But in the real world, shipping needs can get more complex:

  • You may have products that need to be shipped from different warehouses
  • Some products are made to order and may take a little longer to prepare before shipping
  • Some items may need special packaging or may have to be shipped separately from other products.

That’s where splitting shipments becomes a game-changer. With the right configuration, the plugin can automatically group products by category or shipping class, apply the preferred shipping method to each package, and display a single combined shipping cost at checkout for your customers.

✅ Best part: You can do this with a free plugin, and no coding is required.

Shipping Package for WooCommerce

Why You Might Want to Split Shipments

1. Different Fulfillment Locations

If products are shipped from different warehouses or vendors, they can’t be shipped in the same package.

Example:

  • Product A ships from Warehouse A (New York)
  • Product B ships from Warehouse B (California)

Result: Two separate shipments, each package has its own shipping label and may use a different shipping method.

📍Related Article:

How to Configure Live Shipping Rates for Multi-Warehouse WooCommerce Stores

2. Different Processing Times or Backorders

When some products are ready to ship right away while others need additional preparation time, splitting them into separate shipments allows you to deliver faster without delaying the entire order.

Example:

  • Ready-to-ship item: ships tomorrow
  • Custom-made item: ships in 7 days

Result: Two separate shipments, customers get part of their order sooner.

3. Special Packaging or Fragile Items

Some products require separate packaging to ensure safety and maintain quality, for example, fragile glass items, liquids, or hazardous materials.

Example:

  • A fragile glass item and a heavy steel part

 Result: Sent in separate packages to keep both safe during shipping.

How to Do It: Using a Free Plugin

With the Shipping Packages for WooCommerce plugin, you can easily create automatic split-shipping rules that group products by category or shipping class. Using a free, lightweight tool that integrates perfectly with WooCommerce.

With this plugin, you can:

  • 🏷 Group items by product category
  • 📦 Group items by shipping class
  • 🚚 Automatically create multiple packages within the same order

👉 No coding needed, just install, configure your rules, and let the plugin do the work.

Works Perfectly with WooCommerce Live Shipping Rate Plugins

If you’re using one of our WooCommerce shipping plugins, the Shipping Packages plugin integrates smoothly:

✨ Each package will get live shipping rates, and your customers will pay a single total shipping cost at checkout.

This setup gives you maximum flexibility:

  • Ship each package at different times or from different locations. For example, from separate warehouses or vendors.
  • Use different carriers or shipping services for each package
  • Handle fragile or bulky items separately
  • Keep your shipping costs transparent and accurate

How to Get Started (Step-by-Step)

  1. Download and install the Shipping Packages for WooCommerce plugin.
  2. Go to the WooCommerce menu tab

find “1TeamSoftware” → Shipping Packages

  • Enable the Shipping Package plugin
  • Select the “Group By” rule — for example, Category, Shipping Class, Product Type, or other available options.
  • Shipping Method Per, select thee “Package”
  • Shipping Method Restriction For Shipping Class
    You can leave this section unchecked if you don’t need to limit specific shipping services to specific shipping classes.

📍Please note that if you’re using a third-party live shipping plugin, the Shipping Package for WooCommerce plugin may not be able to limit or restrict the shipping services provided by that third-party plugin. In other words, the Shipping Package for WooCommerce plugin cannot override how third-party plugins display their shipping services and shipping rates.

  • Click “Save changes” to save your settings.

3. Add items from different product categories to verify that they are automatically grouped according to the configured rule (Product Category) and that multiple packages are created in the cart and at checkout page.

4. Your customers will now see shipping costs accurately calculated for each package, and you’ll have full control over your shipping strategy 🛍️

Final Thoughts

Shipping isn’t one-size-fits-all. By splitting shipments by product category or shipping class, you can:

  • ✅ Offer faster and more suitable shipping services
  • ✅ Keep fragile or oversized products safe
  • ✅ Accurately charge for shipping cost for each shipping package
  • ✅ Streamline your fulfillment workflow for your WooCommerce store

And with the Shipping Packages for WooCommerce plugin, it’s completely free to get started.

👉 Download the Plugin Now and start creating smarter, more flexible WooCommerce shipping strategies today.

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