Is there a way to make a free shipping for the first order for customer?

Question

Is there a way to enable a free shipping for the first order for all of customers? and that is without the need of generating/entering a coupon code.

Answer 1

Yes, You can do this by creating a new shipping method in magento and checking whether the customer had placed any orders before by using their account.

etc/config.xml

<config>
<global>
    <models>
        <inchoo_shipping>
            <class>Inchoo_Shipping_Model</class>
        </inchoo_shipping>
    </models>
    <helpers>
        <inchoo_shipping>
            <class>Inchoo_Shipping_Helper</class>
        </inchoo_shipping>
    </helpers>
</global>
<default>
    ...
    <carriers>
        <inchoo_shipping>
            <active>1</active>
            <model>inchoo_shipping/carrier</model>
            <title>Inchoo Shipping Carrier</title>
            <sort_order>10</sort_order>
            <sallowspecific>0</sallowspecific>
            <express_max_weight>1</express_max_weight>
        </inchoo_shipping>
    </carriers>
    ...
</default>
...

Model/Carrier.php

class Inchoo_Shipping_Model_Carrier extends Mage_Shipping_Model_Carrier_Abstract implements Mage_Shipping_Model_Carrier_Interface
{

    protected $_code = 'inchoo_shipping';

    public function getAllowedMethods()
    {
        return array(
            'free' => 'Free delivery',
        );
    }

    public function collectRates(Mage_Shipping_Model_Rate_Request $request)
    {
        /** @var Mage_Shipping_Model_Rate_Result $result */
        $result = Mage::getModel('shipping/rate_result');

        /** @var Inchoo_Shipping_Helper_Data $expressMaxProducts */
        $isEligible = Mage::helper('inchoo_shipping')->isCustomerEligibleForFreeDelivery();

        if ($isEligible) {
            $result->append($this->_getFreeShippingRate());
        }

        return $result;
    }

    protected function _getFreeShippingRate()
    {
        /** @var Mage_Shipping_Model_Rate_Result_Method $rate */
        $rate = Mage::getModel('shipping/rate_result_method');

        $rate->setCarrier($this->_code);
        $rate->setCarrierTitle($this->getConfigData('title'));
        $rate->setMethod('free');
        $rate->setMethodTitle('Free delivery');
        $rate->setPrice(0);
        $rate->setCost(0);

        return $rate;
    }

}

Helper/Data.php

class Inchoo_Shipping_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract
{

    public function isCustomerEligibleForFreeDelivery()
    {
        if (!Mage::helper('customer')->isLoggedIn()) {
            return false;
        }

        $customer = Mage::helper('customer')->getCustomer();
        $orders = Mage::getResourceModel('sales/order_collection')
            ->addFieldToSelect('*')
            ->addFieldToFilter('customer_id', $customer->getId());
        $orders->setPageSize(1);
        if ($orders->count() == 0) {
            return true;
        }

        return false;
    }

}