Scottsdale Web Design – Why Your Website Needs a FREE SHIPPING Feature

FREE SHIPPING boosts your website more than you think. In fact, Gian Fulgoni mentioned during his Comscore’s webinar that 75% of the online shoppers surveyed revealed that they would switch to another website if shipping was NOT free during shipping and payment process.

Additionally, Forrester Research did a survey in 2008 and the conclusion of the study was that online retailers expanded their web department by 18%. However, 40% of the customers mentioned that they very surprised at the high cost of shipping their items. Thus, they decided to abandon their carts. Unfortunately for these online retailers, many customers did not continue with their orders.

How Free Shipping Saves the Day?

In order to avoid the problems presented on the Forrester Research survey, many websites now offer FREE SHIPPING. This strategy could make customers shift and try shopping in different websites. Rather than choosing  Amazon, where shipping rates are calculated per item, a lot of customers opt for websites such as Wordery and Book Depository. These online businesses offer “free worldwide shipping.” With this, people will seriously consider to transfer. The free shipping strategy is pretty hard to resist.

These are the different ways to offer FREE SHIPPING to your customers:

• FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER X AMOUNT.
• Amazon may not offer free worldwide shipping, but the website uses another shipping strategy. Amazon will unlock the free shipping option if and only if you reached their minimum requirement. If your current order is over $25, you can now click the free shipping option during the checkout process. The free shipping feature only applies to the 50 states of the U.S.
• FLAT-RATE SHIPPING FEE.
• There’s also another strategy that is NOT weight-based. Flat-rate shipping will only require a uniform shipping fee without considering the quantity and weight of the order. The USPS’ flat-rate shipping option starts at $6.70. The shipping fee is fixed as long as the package does NOT exceed 70 lbs. The Priority Mail Flat Rate packaging includes USPS Tracking when you send it to any U.S. destination.
• FREE SHIPPING ON SELECTED PRODUCTS.
• Offering free shipping when you are selling a bundle is ideal. It encourages customers to try out the product bundle. Instead of just buying a piece, you are enticing them to get a bundle + FREE SHIPPING. For example, you can offer a jewelry set that includes a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a bracelet. Group products that complement each other and offer them as a bundle to take advantage of the FREE SHIPPING offer.
• LIMITED-TIME OFFERS DURING SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
• Limited-time offers are a way to cross-sell other items. It’s a subtle way of saying to your customers to browse these items that will sell out soon. So, the customers will start hoarding these items and will be adding more items to their shopping carts.
• Aside from that, it’s an efficient way to get rid of overstocks. It’s an ingenious strategy to encourage people to purchase multiple copies. A common example is to offer a buy 2, get 2 free.

These are only some of the popular FREE SHIPPING options. Some websites even utilizes all three strategies. In designing a website, it’s crucial to study your customers. You need to know what products sell the most, the sales that were able to attract many customers, the CTA buttons that get clicked the most.  The results are important and it can help you improve your online store.