Does free shipping work at all?

@dave_hermansen https://www.warriorforum.com/members/davehermansen.html


Would be the ideal guy to answer this!

Shipping has been and will always be the most difficult thing to assess for eCommerce stores and your shipping policies will probably be the thing that is tweaked the most over time.

People have become accustomed to free shipping and if you don't offer it, you could be losing sales, whether it is always free shipping or shipping over $xx amount. We try to offer free shipping in some form for all of our websites if at all possible.

This becomes a particularly difficult question if you are shipping large/heavy items or if you are shipping internationally. Before you automatically assume one way or another, though, you should do a search for a few of your products - some small, some medium and some large sized (if applicable) and see what the top 4-5 places online are doing (it also would behoove you to check out the ads in Google Shopping).

The places that are listed high in search rankings have likely been in business for awhile and have found the formula that works best for conversions. At least at the very beginning, you should let their experience dictate what you do, especially since that is what savvy consumers will be comparing your site to. Later, you can run a few split tests and see what works best for your particular store (maybe all the other places are wrong).

for start try free if it work then its best way for u !

Shipping is the #1 place you can lose your shirt as an online retailer. Be it the actual shipping cost, or the cost of packaging. If you are not paying attention this is a place you can literally be bleeding cents if not dollars.

I have online commerce sites and in ALL cases I offer free shipping AND free returns. Of course when we are saying "Free" there is a understanding that the cost of shipping is included in the cost of item.

I also Operate stores on eBay, where I have tested this ( free shipping vs buyer paid shipping ) extensively. Free shipping wins out about 66% of the time and generally at an increased price overall.

Something to consider with FREE shipping is the actual shipping cost. I live and operate in West Virginia. For ME, shipping costs less to Virginia or Pennsylvania than it does to say Hawaii or California.

Using the Free shipping model which includes shipping in the cost of the item means I have determined the most expensive shipping I would have to pay and set the overall rate to that. in terms of USPS and The United States that would mean Zone 8 would be the most expensive to ship to. So If I am shipping to say zone 3, the fixed pricing has a built in profit center.

A cool tool to get a better idea of shipping zones in the States: https://apps.endicia.com/apps/zonemap

The other aspect of this to consider is the ease of programming on the back end. Free shipping or Flat Rate Shipping is simply easier than actually having to get in there and create shipping tables and etc etc.

As a shopper I'm always happier if the site offers free shipping

I think the free shipping option attracts more customers.

You've probably seen it as much as I have. Even a simple "clothes shopping" query turns up this kind of result -- "free shipping" is everywhere! majorly these all are extra shipping cost they count in product amount, so nothing is free in this world!!!

You probably have seen Shipping is something you can offer. Simply put,
Free shipping does not work for all businesses, at least when it is truly free shipping across the board, meaning that merchants absorb 100% of the shipping costs and handling costs for all online purchases.

Hi, An increasingly popular method for retailers is to offer free-based member programs, so merchants receive annual remuneration from customers' work in exchange for shipping information at no cost or for all items. Nevertheless, many online retailers will add shipping costs at a premium to promote a "free-shipping" offer.

I've also been thinking about free shipping. My product is expensive, but shipping seems to be the deal breaker for many. I also sell my product on Amazon, and I notice that someone will put the item in their cart, abandon the cart, and the same person will buy it on Amazon from me because they have Prime. I am thinking about offering free shipping and raising the base price of the product, but I am a bit weary since my product is already too expensive for many.

I used to have a ecommerce site and we had free shipping. Well the site advertised FREE shipping but in reality it was shipping included. We knew what it cost for the largest item we sold and also knew the minimum and we just made our price cover shipping and handling.

When it comes to shipping I think most people just want to know what it is up front. Another thing is to just advertise a "Flat Rate" shipping cost.

al