How to Integrate Australia Post with WooCommerce

Last updated - March 31, 2022

Are you planning to start your delivery services in Australia? Australia Post is one of the most affordable and reliable partners when it comes to delivering packages or mail. In this article, we will discuss how to integrate Australia Post with WooCommerce.

Table of Contents

Let’s Learn More About Australia Post

Australia Post is one of the most widely used postal services in Australia and also allows international deliveries. The company goes through 3 processes for delivery; collecting packages, processing, and finally distributing these items. Australia Post is most commonly used for letters, products, parcels, mail, etc. The seamless tracking feature allows you to know the current status of delivery items. You can simply send an SMS to track the current location of your packages. By integrating Australia Post with your WooCommerce store you will ensure that your delivery is secured and easily manageable.

How To Integrate Australia Post With WooCommerce Using Plugins?

There are many plugins that allow easy integration with Australia Post, I have listed some of the best plugins below.

To explore more options you can read this comparison article.

For demonstrations, we will use the ELEX WooCommerce Australia Post Shipping plugin.

This plugin allows convenient integration with Australia Post and you can automate your shipping process on the WooCommerce store. This plugin enables you to display real-time shipping rates for Australia Post, print shipping labels, and track your packages.

How to Integrate Australia Post With WooCommerce Using the ELEX WooCommerce Australia Post Shipping Plugin?

After you have purchased the plugin from ELEXtensions you can obtain the zip file which can be used to integrate with your WooCommerce store.

Login to your WordPress admin panel and go to Plugins > Add new. Here, you will see the Upload option, when it’s done Activate the plugin.

Now navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Australia Post. Let’s explore the features provided by the ELEX Australia Post Shipping plugin.

General

In this main tab, you can enter your API Key, Switch between contracted or non-contracted accounts, add API Password, and Account number that can be obtained when you register with Australia Post.
You can enable the Test Mode to see your customizations on the WooCommerce store and if you are satisfied you can activate the Live Mode.
Enable Real-time Rates to display current shipping rates for Australia Post on your cart and the Checkout page.
You can Show Rates including GST or excluding it.
If you require labels for your ordered items you can Enable Shipping Label option.
Enter the shipper address in the provided fields and also include other important contact information.
Save these changes and move forward to the next tab.

Rates and Services

To display the expected delivery date, you can check the Enable option for Estimated Delivery Date Settings. This option will open an additional tab to include your store’s wording days, and even allow you to assign a Cutt-off Time and Load Time.
You can enable the Combined Export Tool; it will automatically estimate the duties and imports for the shipment.
Enable Show rate option to show duties and imports on the cart and the Checkout page.
Keep Australia Post as default in the Method title option or you can change it as per your business type or requirement. If you want to deliver to all countries you can choose the Supports All Countries option or choose the Supports Specific Countries option if you want to deliver to a selected few countries.

In the Australia Post Services tab, you will see all the delivery services provided by the company. These options allow you to customize the service name, and adjust default rates for discounts or markup.

Save the changes to apply these settings and move to the next tab.

Label & Tracking

Enable Direct Download option will allow you to directly download the shipping label and summary for orders.
Save Shipping Labels option will automatically save the generated shipping label in the wp-content folder to allow future access.
Choose the Normal Delivery Address if you want to deliver the package directly to the address entered by the customer.
Select a particular Bulk Shipment service as a default for domestic and international services from the provided options.
In Document Output Type and Documents Layout you can choose among the available sizes for printing shipping labels.
In the Shipping Content box, you can type a description or instruction for your package.
Use the Custom Shipment Message box to include any additional information for the order and communicate it with customers.
Save these changes and proceed to the Packaging tab.

Packaging

In this section, you can explore options to pack your items. This plugin allows 3 packaging options to choose from.

Default: Pack items individually

This option will pack each item separately in an individual box. It simply means that multiple items will be automatically packed in multiple boxes.

Recommended: Pack into boxes with weights and dimensions

This option will enable packaging in different shapes and sizes.

Weight Based: Calculate shipping on the basis of order total weight

Choose this option if you want to arrange your packages according to their weights.

Select one option that is most suitable for your products and save the changes.

Licence

Here you can enter the API Licence Key and Licence Email id provided by ELEXtensions. This will allow continued support for technical problems and access to the latest updates.

Using The ELEX Australia Post Plugin on your WooCommerce Store

When you have successfully configured the above settings you can visit the online store and add a product to your cart and move to the Checkout page. Here you will see that real-time shipping rates are displayed for Australia Post. A customer can easily compare these rates and services and place an order with your store.

After an order is placed, you can access it from your WordPress dashboard. Simply go to WooCommerce > Orders. Select the order using Order id or Customer name and open the Single Order Page on your dashboard. Let’s discuss these order details.

In the top left corner, you will see the order number, delivery method used and the payment method used by the customer.
Corresponding to it you can see the Billing address, Shipping Address, and customer’s contact information.
The right sidebar titled AusPost Shipment Tracking will show the tracking id and shipment date after generating shipment.

When you have carefully checked the entered details you can scroll down and click the Generate Packages option.

This button will open a new tab with additional details related to the package. Cross-check the package dimensions and select a service provider then click the Create Shipment option.

That’s it! The package is generated. Now, you can see the additional details are added in the tab AusPost Shipment Tracking automatically. The Tracking id and shipment date fields are automatically filled.

Click the Save/Show Tracking Info option which will ping a new notification at the top. To track the shipment status you can click the tracking id code using the provided hyperlink which will redirect you to the official Australia Post website.

In the Australia Post section, you will see a Download Label button that will allow you to access the shipment label and download it to your system.

I hope you have a decent knowledge of how to integrate Australia Post with WooCommerce. If you are still facing any technical issues you can leave a comment below.