Understand the Packing Methods of WooCommerce FedEx Plugin

Packing a single item into a box and shipping it via FedEx is straightforward. However, when shipping multiple items, the process often becomes complex and sometimes confusing. Many new WooCommerce store owners struggle to understand how to pack their products into boxes effectively. This lack of knowledge can lead to higher shipping costs or poorly optimized packages that unnecessarily increase expenses.

Fortunately, the easiest way to solve this is by using the PH WooCommerce FedEx Shipping Plugin. This plugin enables users to pack their products optimally with just a few clicks, eliminating the need to set up each package or calculate shipping costs individually manually. Simply select the appropriate parcel packing method and configure packing rules according to your needs.

This guide will walk you through the parcel and box packing algorithm used in the WooCommerce Shipping Plugin for FedEx. Read on to learn more about optimizing your WooCommerce FedEx shipments and saving on shipping costs.

Packing methods in the WooCommerce FedEx Shipping plugin

You may sell products with similar physical attributes or items of varying shapes. Regardless, when it comes to optimizing your shipments, it’s always best to have the right boxes prepared in advance.

If you take a close look at the image below, you’ll see that the WooCommerce FedEx Shipping Plugin offers a wide range of official FedEx packaging options. These boxes come with pre-defined weights and dimensions to help you stay within shipping limits.

For a deeper understanding, you can explore the full list of FedEx box sizes and specifications.

If you have a product that doesn’t fit into the standard FedEx boxes, you can create your own custom box. Let’s explore more about the different types of packaging FedEx offers. 

The FedEx WooCommerce Shipping plugin provides three parcel packing methods:

• Pack into boxes with predefined weights and dimensions
• Pack items individually
• Weight-based packing, which calculates shipping costs based on the total weight

Pack into boxes with weights and dimensions

In the image below, you can see that the “Pack into boxes with weights and dimensions” method has been selected. This method packs multiple items into predefined boxes while respecting both the weight and dimension limits.

Additionally, you can choose a Packing Algorithm to control how items are arranged:

• Default: Volume-Based Packing – Packs items based on available volume.
• Stack First Packing – Tries to stack items vertically for better space usage.
• Based on Volume Used × Item Count – Optimizes packing by balancing item count and volume used.

This packaging approach ensures efficient use of box space while keeping shipments within limits. For instance, if you’re shipping different products with different dimensions and weights, the plugin calculates the optimal way to fit them into one or more boxes. If everything can’t fit in a single box, it automatically splits the items into multiple packages.

Pack items individually

This is the simplest way of packing items or products into boxes. Let us assume that you have five products, and each one of them has different weights and dimensions.

If you choose to pack items individually, then the plugin will consider each item separately and will pack them into separate boxes. However, the plugin would choose each box based on the weight and dimensions of individual products.

The plugin will add all the shipping costs of each box and will show the total FedEx shipping rate on the Cart/Checkout page. For example, if you have a product that costs $22 and the customer orders two quantities, then the total cost would show up as $44 ($22+$22).

Weight-based packing method

In weight-based packing, items are grouped into packages based solely on their weight. As shown in the image below, you can set a maximum package weight, for example, 10 lbs. Once this limit is exceeded, the plugin automatically starts a new package.

You can also choose how items are packed using one of three options:

• Pack heavier items first
• Pack lighter items first
• Pack purely divided by weight

Choose carefully, as this setting can impact shipping rates.

Weight-based packing is recommended, as it often results in lower shipping costs, especially when multiple items are in the cart. This is demonstrated in this video comparing weight-based and individual packing methods. While rates are similar for a single item, weight-based packing becomes more cost-effective as quantity increases.

This method also ignores item dimensions, making it ideal for lightweight, bulky products, like cotton-stuffed toys, where weight is the main cost factor.

Packing multiple items separately

This packaging type makes all the individual items packaged separately. Let us take an example and try to create two separate shipments for two separate products.

In the Edit Order page, you would be able to see the following section. Here you can define the weight and dimensions, and even choose the shipping service. After you have specified the FedEx services, you can further create the shipment by clicking on the Create Shipment button. 

Doing this will generate the shipments, and you will be able to print separate shipping labels for each shipment. If you click on the Print Label options, the labels will be downloaded as shown in the following two images.

As you can see that the labels are separated by 1 of 2 and 2 of 2.

Are FedEx packing methods available for Shopify users as well?

Yes! But you’d need to install the Shopify FedEx App to do that.

Yes! But you’d need to install the Shopify FedEx App to do that. With this App, you can display real-time FedEx shipping rates on your Shopify Checkout page. You can even print shipping labels from your store and provide live tracking to your customers. 

You can read more about the Shopify FedEx App here.

Final thoughts

The WooCommerce Shipping Plugin for FedEx is a powerful tool that simplifies the entire FedEx packing and shipping process. With flexible configuration options, you can tailor the packing method to match your unique business requirements effortlessly. 

We hope this guide has provided you with valuable insights into optimizing your parcel packing strategy. For additional support, don’t hesitate to contact the PluginHive support team.