WooCommerce 9.7: Smarter shipping displays and faster performance

What’s coming in 9.7

• New shipping method display
• Faster block editor performance
• Enhanced Add to Cart with Options block
• More new features and updates
• First looks
• API Updates
• Other important information
• Changelog
• Get WooCommerce 9.7
• Code Contributors

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New shipping method display

Add description and delivery time to shipping methods in the Cart and Checkout block #49643

We have improved the shipping method selection interface in the Checkout block so that extension developers can define a description and delivery time for each shipping method. We have added two new properties to the data of a WC_Shipping_Rate: delivery_time and description.

The values for the delivery_time and description will be surfaced in the shipping options selector and the cart block sidebar. In the sidebar, only the delivery_time value will be shown, in the interest of saving space.

To leverage this new functionality, you will need to use the woocommerce_package_rates filter. Checkout the example below 👇

add_filter( 'woocommerce_package_rates', function ( $rates, $package ) {
    foreach ( $rates as $rate_id => $rate ) {
        if ( 'flat_rate' === $rate->method_id ) {
            $rate->description = 'This is a custom description for ' . $rate->label . '.';
            $rate->delivery_time = 'This will be delivered in 1 day.';
        }
        if ( 'free_shipping' === $rate->method_id ) {
            $rate->description = 'This is a custom description for ' . $rate->label . '.';
            $rate->delivery_time = 'This will be delivered in 3 days.';
        }
    }
    return $rates;
}, 10, 2 );

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Faster block editor performance

We’ve completed a significant refactor of the product block registration system, specifically around the registerProductBlockType function (previously known as registerBlockSingleProductTemplate). This function is crucial as it handles block registration for product related blocks on the Single Product template. It also ensures they are also available in the post/page editor with ancestor constraints on product specific blocks such as the Product Collection block, Single Product block and so forth.

One of the most impactful improvements is performance. Instead of maintaining individual store subscriptions for each block, the new implementation consolidates them into a single subscription, significantly reducing overhead. The refactored system reduces subscription callbacks by 99% and cuts execution time by 75% when working with Single Product templates and product-related blocks. Our benchmarks show dramatic gains:

• Previous implementation (registerBlockSingleProductTemplate)
  • 4,550 subscription callbacks triggered on initial load of the Single Product template in the Site Editor
  • Total execution time: 2.47s
• New implementation (registerProductBlockType)
  • Only 24 subscription callbacks for the same test
  • Total execution time: 0.63s

Additionally, the old implementation did not unsubscribe callbacks, leading to persistent execution overhead during Site Editor interactions. This has now been addressed, improving both performance and efficiency.

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Enhanced Add to Cart with Options block

Add to Cart with Options: Add Stepper option #48876

Single product template before and after adding the stepper layout option

The Add to Cart with Options block, which is part of the single product template, now includes a sleek stepper layout for quantity selection. You can now enable this new layout option through the block’s Quantity Selector settings, providing a more streamlined purchasing experience for end customers.

Navigate to your Site Editor > Templates > Single Product Template > Add to Cart with Options block to try out the new feature. The “Quantity Selector” option on the Add to Cart with Options block will now give you the option to choose between the stepper and traditional layout.

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More new features and updates

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First looks

Below you’ll find features that are still in beta, or are only partially rolled out. Help us build a better product by testing and sharing feedback for these features.

Modernized payment settings

We are continuing to roll out improvements for the modernized payments settings page. WooCommerce 9.7 introduces our new React-based Payments settings interface, initially rolling out to 50% of new stores. Learn more about this modernization effort in our technical announcement post.

This release includes updates to the look and feel of the Payments settings page, as well as the introduction of an “Official” badge. This badge highlights extensions that are developed in collaboration between the service provider and WooCommerce, ensuring they meet our marketplace guidelines for security, performance, compatibility, user experience, and privacy. While extensions without this badge may follow their own development and support practices, all payment solutions remain welcome within WooCommerce, and merchants can choose the best fit for their needs.

If you would like to enable or disable this feature, you can pass true or false values to the reactify-classic-payments-settings flag. See the example below force-enabling the feature 👇

add_filter( 'woocommerce_admin_get_feature_config', function( $features ) {
    return array_merge(
        $features,
        [
            'reactify-classic-payments-settings' => true,
        ]
    );
}, 999 );

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Modernized Email Styling (Beta)

As we continue our work to modernize the WooCommerce email experience, this release introduces enhancements to user and order-related emails. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Join the discussion and share your feedback here.

Enable experimental feature by navigating to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features and turning on Email Improvements.Checkout what we’ve added in this version 👇
Email previews are now more accurate than ever. In addition to including a more modern look and feel, email previews are now enhanced by including more data, so that store owners and site managers can better visualize what their email recipients will see.

User-related email previews (new account and password reset)

• Username now included for better clarity.

Order-related email previews (where applicable)

• Payment method added for transparency.
• Discount details displayed.
• Product variation information included.
• Customer notes now visible.
• Shipping method clearly specified.

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API Updates

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Other important information

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Changelog

View the full changelog.

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Reposted from WooCommerce

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