Show Shipping Methods in Cart (before creating account)

[kmorgen]

We have recently migrated from PS1.6 to PS1.7 and though using the same theme/design we have noticed quite a big drop in conversions. After some split testing, we can see it is a problem that visitors can no longer see the various Shipping Methods before creating an account - many will just leave the cart instead, when various shipping options are not fully transparent.

In PS1.6 the customer could scroll down during checkout to see the various carriers before creating account. In PS1.7 all the checkout columns are collapsed, so shipping methods remain hidden until account creation.

When using Geolocation the country is already established prior to creating account, so there should be no problem in also showing the various shipping methods - just like in PS1.6.

Anybody knows how to solve/improve this easily in PS1.7 (we prefer to not use a 3rd party OPC module)?

1. Either ability to expand the Shipping Method column in PS1.7 checkout.
2. Alternatively show Shipping Methods in the Cart page

Edited October 1, 2020 by kmorgen (see edit history)