How to Avoid Defaulting to Local Pickup in WooCommerce Checkout

In a recent Business Bloomer Club Slack thread, a WooCommerce user needed help with shipping zones and methods for a store offering UPS shipping across the U.S. and Local Pickup in California.

The issue was that “Local Pickup” automatically appeared as the default option in the checkout for California customers, often causing them to miss it and requiring refunds.

Here’s a solution to avoid defaulting to any shipping method, prompting customers to actively choose a preferred option.

Solution: Disable Default Shipping Selection

Using a code snippet, you can prevent WooCommerce from automatically selecting a default shipping method. This approach forces customers to actively choose between UPS and Local Pickup, helping to avoid selection errors.

1. Add the Code Snippet: Place this code in your theme’s functions.php file to remove the default shipping selection on the checkout page.

add_filter( 'woocommerce_shipping_chosen_method', 'bbloomer_no_default_shipping_method', 10, 3 );

function bbloomer_no_default_shipping_method( $method, $available_methods, $chosen_method ) {
    // Return empty string to force customers to choose a shipping option
    return '';
}

2. Test the Checkout Experience: Open an incognito browser or clear the cache, then go through the checkout process to ensure that neither UPS nor Local Pickup is selected by default.

Explanation of the Code

This code modifies the woocommerce_shipping_chosen_method filter to return an empty value, which disables any default selection for shipping methods.

Additional Tips

1. Clarify Shipping Options: Ensure the UPS and Local Pickup options are clearly labeled to minimize any confusion when customers make a selection.
2. Optimize Zone Settings: If necessary, double-check that Local Pickup is only available for California by reviewing your shipping zones.

Conclusion

By removing the default shipping selection, customers must actively choose a shipping method, reducing the risk of accidental selections like Local Pickup. This simple code change improves order accuracy and customer satisfaction, particularly for WooCommerce stores with multiple shipping options in specific regions.