For a customer, the price of a product can determine whether or not they want to purchase it. For online shopping, the cost of shipping can act as the final deciding factor. Learn more about the benefits of free shipping and how to include it in your e-commerce marketing strategy today.
Online shopping has become extremely popular over the last few years, with customer expectations evolving in parallel. There was a time when free shipping was a competitive point of difference. With the change in consumer thinking and perspective, they now expect free shipping once they’ve paid a certain dollar figure for a purchase, if not for every order. They prefer stores that offer free shipping over those which charge a shipping fee.
And although free shipping may only seem attractive for a customer, businesses also stand to benefit. So how can free shipping help boost your sales and grow your business? How can you offer free shipping and calculate the breakeven cost? Find all this and more in the upcoming sections.
Importance of free shipping
The importance of free shipping cannot be underestimated, especially when one considers the statistics. According to Statista, as of November 2018, 63% of online shoppers in the United States abandoned their carts because the shipping costs were too much. A study by Jungle Scout revealed that 66% of American consumers expect free shipping on online orders, whereas almost 80% expect free shipping when ordering a specific dollar amount on online products.
This shows that free shipping is paramount to reducing cart abandonment and increasing conversion rates. But this ‘free’ shipping is free just on the part of the consumers; you will have to cover it in some form. With the proper strategic planning, however, this can be done and offering this incentive to customers will eventually help your business. Start improving your customer experience with a great delivery strategy.
Benefits of free shipping
There are several benefits of offering free shipping to your customers:
Boost sales — Free shipping is a great way to boost sales since customers will automatically prefer you over other businesses that impose delivery charges, increasing the number of orders you get and boosting sales.
Brand loyalty — Even if you do not offer free shipping on all orders, you can give this incentive to customers if they join a loyalty program or become an annual member. In adopting a customer-centric approach such as this, people are willing to pay the annual loyalty or membership fee in return for some perks that also include free shipping.
Create a competitive edge — If your competitors charge an amount for delivery and you offer free shipping, it will help create a competitive edge for you and help you outcompete your rivals as people always prefer free shipping sites when shopping online.
Repeat orders — If customers had a good experience shopping with you once, they are less likely to look elsewhere. They will come back to you for their subsequent purchases as they know they can expect free shipping for their next orders.
