6 min read

An eCommerce Seller’s Guide to Offer Free Shipping

🕒 June 20, 2022 by Reham Omar - 6 min read

Free shipping is becoming increasingly popular among online stores, as customers don’t want to be charged for the delivery of their orders. It is no secret that today’s consumers are used to receiving various offers, the most important of which is free shipping. So, it’s definitely a service worth studying for all sellers to attract more customers & expand their customer base.

If you’re an ecommerce store owner, you’re always looking for ways to increase sales and grow your business. Free shipping is one of the most important ways to do this, as free shipping is a great incentive for customers to buy from your store, and also helps you increase customer loyalty. In this guide, we will show you ways to control shipping costs so you can provide this service to your customers.

But first, let’s know why it’s always recommended to offer free shipping service in e-stores?

Benefits of Providing Free Shipping To Buyers

1. Increase in Store Sales

By providing multiple shipping options, stores can generate higher revenue and increase sales, because free shipping entices customers to buy products without incurring any additional costs, maintaining a stable cost from the product page to the payment page which increases the likelihood of the customer completing the purchase.

Shopping carts are often abandoned when customers find additional shipping charges have been added to the total amount to pay.

2. Competitive Market Advantage

Offering free shipping is one way to stay competitive. If your competitors offer free delivery, you need to offer this service to stay competitive.

The average customer usually checks at least three locations before making a purchase. If you don’t offer free delivery, you may lose potential customers because it’s a common expectation.

Instead, if your competitors don’t offer free delivery, offering it may be the competitive advantage you need to earn more customers.

3. Reduction of Abandoned Carts Numbers

The most common reason why customers don’t complete their purchase is extra fees, such as shipping costs and the absence of an expected delivery date. Because shopping means spending money and often feeling guilty, so anything you do or offer in your store that can contribute to increasing this negative sensation and may pull customers back to complete their purchases.

Free shipping eliminates any reason that may cause the customer not to complete the purchase process, thereby reducing the chances of abandoning the cart and increasing sales overall.

4. Minimizing Customers’ Confusion

Returns are an inevitable part of eCommerce. If the customer returns his order and requests a full refund – including shipping fees, things can get a little tricky. You will then need to negotiate a refund with the shipping company. But if you have a comprehensive free shipping policy, Your customers won’t be entitled to a refund of any shipping fees. Alternatively, you can only offer them a refund for the product value only.

5. Increasing Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is essential for any store whatever its size. Loyalty ensures profits and healthy revenue, as well as long-term sustainability. If you can count on your customers returning to purchase your products, you can include the repeat business from them in your growth plan. This ensures reduced risk and peace of mind in case of uncertainties in the market.

When your customers get a good deal on their purchases through your store, they are unlikely to look elsewhere. For example, if you offer free shipping, they know they will always get a good deal from you compared to other stores that charge for shipping and delivery. Some of your customers may not look elsewhere before buying. They’ll come straight to you instead.

Strategies To Offer Free Shipping

When offering free shipping services within their stores, there are several ways you can promote free shipping without compromising your bottom line. Let’s take a look at some of these options together:

1. Free Shipping on All Orders

The easiest way to provide free shipping in your store is to offer free shipping for all orders and products. But you need to take into account the impact of this on your net earnings. It makes sense only if your products have high-profit margins or are small in size and don’t weigh much.

2. Free Shipping for Only New Customers

customers? You can do this by creating a one-time coupon or code for new accounts within your store. It’s a big incentive for potential shoppers who haven’t shopped before. This helps to maintain a steady stream of new buyers for your store.

3. Free Shipping for a Fixed Period of Time

Giving customers limited time to get free shipping for everything they buy is a powerful incentive for them to take action to buy the products they were considering. This can be an effective business strategy during festive or clearance sales.

4. Limit Free Shipping for A Minimum Cart Value

This method helps you to increase the average value of orders and possibly increase your profits within your store. Offering free shipping to customers who make purchases in excess of a set amount encourages them to spend more.

5. Free Shipping When Buying Specific Products

If you want to limit the negative impact of free shipping on your trade, consider limiting it to certain products within your store, for example, you can exclude all large products such as heavyweight or large furniture.

6. Free Shipping for a Specific Number of Products

This free shipping system helps increase the average number of products within each order by encouraging shoppers to add other products to their shopping cart in order to get free shipping.

Conclusion

Many small stores believe that free shipping is possible only for large stores. But this assumption is far from true. Free shipping can remain a very cost-effective service for many small stores thanks to the increase in sales and customer loyalty that this service can create.

If you use a reliable shipping platform like Shiprocket, your customers will get fast and reliable delivery that you can save without charging them extra.

We hope you have found this guide useful. If you have any questions about providing free shipping services, feel free to communicate with our team. We are always happy to help!

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