Best WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin
With this guide, we’ll compare the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin from PluginHive with the Canada Post shipping method by WooCommerce.
WooCommerce Shipping with Canada Post
Canada Post is one of the best shipping carriers for e-commerce store owners living in Canada and the U.S. Canada Post’s shipping services are cheap and offer the best shipping experience to both you and your customers.
Choosing the right WooCommerce shipping plugin is still one of the most difficult tasks most new store owners have to deal with. This is why we’ve decided to help you choose the best option for your store.
We will compare the following two WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping Plugins.
- WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive
- Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce
Factors to consider when choosing the right WooCommerce Shipping plugin
Different store owners have different shipping needs. Based on those needs we have selected some factors that will help you understand and choose the best plugin for your store. These factors are,
- Displaying Live and Accurate Canada Post Shipping rates on the WooCommerce Checkout page
- Ability to adjust Canada Post Shipping rates as per your need
- Ability to Choose the Most Efficient Packaging Method
- Generating and printing Canada Post shipping labels directly from WooCommerce
- Share Live Shipment Tracking details with your Customers via Emails
- Cost of the plugin
- Value for Money
Displaying Live and Accurate Canada Post Shipping rates on the WooCommerce checkout page
Well, the most important feature, that store owners want from a shipping plugin is that it can get a shipping rate quote from Canada Post. The WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive is based on the official Canada Post API.
In simple words, the plugin sends a request to the official Canada Post server, based on the package details such as the weight of the package, source, destination for shipment, etc. Then the plugin will receive the shipping cost from the Canada Post servers, which will be displayed on the cart page. The plugin also provides options to enable Contract Shipping Rates, if you are eligible for that.
One thing that Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce can do pretty well is to calculate shipping rates. Similar to the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin, this plugin too gets the rates from official Canada Post servers and then displays them on the cart page.
Ability to adjust Canada Post Shipping rates as per your need
WooCommerce store owners have a tendency to provide shipping discounts on occasions such as Christmas, Black Friday, etc. So along with the real-time shipping rates from Canada Post, they require the ability to adjust those shipping rates. WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive provides a dedicated solution for this.
Ability to adjust Canada Post Shipping rates as per your need
It enables WooCommerce store owners to add or even give discounts on shipping rates. This way store owners not only can provide discounts but can also add additional handling charges to the shipping rates. You can see in the following image how the plugin allows store owners to add or remove some value as well as some percentage of the shipping rates.
Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce also has the same mechanism to allow store owners to adjust shipping rates. Similar to the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin, it allows store owners to add or remove an amount or some percentage of the shipping quotes that Canada Post has sent. The image below shows the fields for both the additional charges as well as discounts in the plugin settings.
Ability to Choose the Most Efficient Packaging Method
Apart from shipping, product packing is one of the most important tasks. It requires some advanced algorithms to check the weight and dimensions of different products and to suggest packing for the same.
The WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive is one of the best options when it comes to product packing. It uses three parcel packing methods that give storeowners different choices to pack their products based on their preferences. These methods include,
- Pack Items Individually
This method packs the products individually. In other words, the number of packages is equal to the number of items in the cart. - Box Packing with Custom Weights and Dimensions
This method allows store owners to create packing boxes with custom weight and dimensional limits. Based on the weight and dimensions, the products are packed in a particular box. - Weight-Based packing
This is the best packing method that can accommodate almost any shipping scenario based on weight. Using this method store owners can pack any number of products up to a weight limit, inside a single box.
Similarly, the Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce packs the products on the basis of the packing methods shown above. These methods are very helpful when it comes to providing stores with the best options for packing.
Generating and Printing Canada Post Shipping labels directly from WooCommerce
WooCommerse store owners hate it when they have to visit the shipping carrier’s website just to get the shipping label. All that extra effort to manually add all the shipment details there is just not worth the money spent on a shipping solution.
WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin allows store owners to print the shipping label directly from the Orders page. This not only saves them the hassle of visiting the shipping carrier’s website but also provides an easier and automated way to get shipping labels.
Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce, on the other hand, doesn’t support the functionality to print shipping labels by default. However, they do have a free-of-cost add-on, that provides the functionality to print shipping labels for Canada Post and USPS packages. The fact that a feature so important is not available solely in the premium version itself is strange. Secondly, having the same feature available in the free add-on makes it even stranger.
Share Live Canada Post Tracking details with your Customers via Emails
WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping Plugin by PluginHive is one of the best shipping plugins for a reason. So far we have seen that it accommodates all the necessary features that are essential for a shipping plugin.
However, this plugin takes it to another level by providing the ability to track your Canada Post packages. And the most amazing thing about this feature is that similar to label printing, it doesn’t require any manual effort. Store owners can track their packages automatically by clicking a single option on the Orders page.
When it comes to the Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce, so far they do not support the Canada Post Tracking feature. Shipment tracking is still one of the fields where the store owners will have to depend on a secondary plugin. Or they can again visit the shipping carrier’s website and enter the tracking details of the package to get real-time shipment tracking.
Cost of the WooCommerce Canada Post plugin
Let’s talk about the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive first. The plugin has a basic version that store owners can get free of cost. Obviously, a basic version won’t get you access to all the features in the premium one. Yet this is a great way to provide store owners a chance to get acquainted with the plugin and its user interface before even paying for it.
Moreover, this also helps store owners to understand whether the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin will satisfy their business needs or not. This is an important factor when it comes to providing options to the store owners to explore the plugin. And when it comes to the premium version, the plugin costs $69, which is a one-time fee for the plugin. Apart from that, the store owners get access to the updates as well as outstanding support for one year.
Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce, on the other hand, doesn’t provide a basic version as an option for store owners to know about the plugin beforehand. So the only way to get your hands on the plugin is to purchase it. The plugin cost $79, a bit costlier than the one PluginHive provides. Judging from the price only, for store owners with a limit on budget, the additional $10 may be too much unless it is worth the value.
Value for money
It all comes down to this. All the features, add-ons, plugin updates, support, etc. may not be worth the effort if the plugin doesn’t justify its cost. The WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive is a great plugin. However, what is commendable is the fact that they have managed to provide functionalities like shipping labels and shipment tracking at a price this cheap.
On the other hand, if we see the Canada Post Shipping Method plugin by WooCommerce, the additional $20 difference cannot be justified in any case. Be it the lack of a dedicated feature of shipping labels in a premium plugin or not having the ability to track the packages, it surely isn’t worth the price tag.
Best of the Two?
The obvious answer is the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive.
WooCommerce has done a decent job when it comes to the Canada Post Shipping Method. However, it is the WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive that has the upper hand when it comes to comparison.
Both plugins serve most of the functionalities required in a premium shipping plugin. Yet, with some essential features still missing and most importantly, a price tag of $99, it is very hard for Canada Post Shipping Method by WooCommerce to beat WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin by PluginHive in the race to be the best Canada Post shipping plugin.
Summary
This article covers all the factors that are necessary for a plugin to be one of the best plugins for WooCommerce store owners. We have compared PluginHive’s WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin and Woocommerce’s Canada Post Shipping Method plugin, to find the best among the two.
When it comes to Canada Post shipping solutions, WordPress-based store owners have these two of the best shipping solutions. This comparison will help you to analyze both of these plugins based on some important factors. And finally, choose the best shipping plugin for your store.
This article is based on the features supported by both plugins along with some of the other important factors. Either of the plugins may be suitable for your business case. However, based on the factors, we have evaluated these plugins and the article shows the results of the evaluation.
If you have some queries or suggestions regarding the comparison, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. You can even contact our customer support if you need more help. Our support team can help you set up Canada Post shipping on your WooCommerce.
Happy selling!