No customer has ever said, “I don’t want free shipping.” Offering free shipping is a great way to increase sales and convert customers. It is a great way for customers to be attracted and kept.
How do you accomplish this?
It is easy to set up Shopify and offer Shopify free shipping. It’s a whole different ballgame to use it as a strategy for improving your business. It is important to make sure you are making money, even if shipping is free.
This article will explain why free shipping is important and how you can use it to increase conversions and sales.
Let’s get started!
Shipping Free of Charge
As a Shopify merchant, shipping may not be your first thought. Customers consider shipping when purchasing anything online. High shipping costs are one reason many customers abandon their shopping carts.
You and your customers can create a win-win situation by offering free shipping. You get more sales because they feel comfortable buying your products and don’t have to worry about shipping costs. You can also increase your average order value.
You may think that offering free shipping will make you lose a lot of money. This is false. It’s like baiting a hook to catch fish. It is often worth the bait, isn’t it? Offering free shipping is usually worth it, especially if done correctly.
We are not saying it lightly. These are some stats that will show you why free shipping is a great marketing strategy.
- A report by Baymard Institute shows that high shipping costs are the leading reason shoppers abandon carts.
- Deloitte found that around 20% of online shoppers said that free shipping was a factor in their loyalty to certain stores.
- Annex Cloud also reported that 61% of shoppers would abandon their carts if they were to be charged shipping fees.
- An LinkedIn article reveals that approximately 50% of North American online shoppers are more likely to abandon their carts when they face shipping charges.
These statistics point to one thing: free shipping is important to customers. Free shipping is a great way to get customers to buy your products.
Many shoppers will continue searching until they find the right store to sell their product at no shipping charges.
Factors to consider before offering free shipping
Even though you have seen the benefits of free shipping, you may still be pondering whether or not to offer free shipping. It is an important consideration.
You should consider several factors before you decide to offer free shipping. These are the main ones:
- Is it worth the trouble?
This is why you need to determine if your conversion rate and other important metrics are increasing when you offer free shipping.
- What are the shipping costs for carriers?
It is important to consider the cost of shipping your products to customers. You can’t just offer free shipping.
- What transaction charges do you have to pay?
Other fees that may be charged on transactions should also be taken into consideration. These fees could include credit card fees or duty fees.
- What amount of profit will you lose?
You will be responsible for shipping costs if you offer free shipping. This will most likely impact your profit margin. It’s important that you think about this before you jump in.
You should do enough research and answer these questions accurately to be able decide how to best implement free shipping as a marketing strategy in your Shopify shop.
How to Get Free Shipping
You can offer your customers free shipping if they purchase items. However, you will have to pay for shipping. How can you make profit while still getting free shipping?
1. Add the shipping cost to your other expenses
You must consider shipping costs as an expense for your business since you will be paying for the shipping costs of your customers. It should be included in all calculations and should be reflected in your financial statements.
It is not a good idea to discover that you are losing money because you did not include shipping costs. Shipping costs must be included from the moment you take inventory.
2. Promote Your Free Shipping Offer
Freebies are a popular sound, especially when they’re free shipping. It is important that you offer it. It should be highlighted on your Shopify site. It can be displayed on their main pages and on your product pages.
Your store visitors will notice the offer and take advantage of it by marketing it. This will increase sales, which is how to get your money back. Walmart offers free delivery on their website. It is immediately available to shoppers.
3. Focus on Up-Sells and Cross-Sells
Cross-selling refers to when your customers are persuaded to purchase additional products in addition or as a complement to their initial purchase.
Up-selling is the opposite. It’s when you recommend a more costly product to your customer. Up-selling can be described as suggesting a more costly model of the phone that a customer has just bought. This is a typical example of cross-selling.
You can convince shoppers to buy more by offering free shipping when they buy additional products via cross-selling and up-selling. This will increase your average order value, and make shipping more affordable for you. This will allow you to make a higher profit margin on your products.
Cross-sells are a great way to increase customer loyalty. You might even make them your brand ambassador.
Why should you offer free shipping
Large corporations can afford to offer free shipping for the entire year. They will reap the benefits in the long-term. This is not something small businesses can afford. What is the solution?
Small business owners can schedule certain times throughout the year for free shipping. This is entirely dependent on your profit margin, and how much you can afford shipping.
After answering the questions and analysing your transaction and shipping costs, you can offer free shipping to your customers either on a conditional basis or promotional.
These are some structures that you can use to offer free shipping for your customers.
A. Based on Condition
1. Minimum Order Value
For customers who qualify for free shipping, you can set a minimum order amount. This will allow you to keep some profit and offer free shipping.
Many customers will gladly add more items to their shopping carts in order to receive free shipping
2. Select Products
Sometimes you may have too many products and need to reduce their stock. You can offer free shipping for these products, or combine products with them to sell them quickly and reduce your inventory.
This strategy is more efficient if you offer free shipping if customers purchase a certain amount of the stock that you want to sell.
B. Based on Promotion
1. Promo Codes
New customers and recent sign-ups can be given one-time promo codes which will allow them to receive free shipping This will make them feel more connected to your brand.
2. Peak Sale Periods
Businesses tend to sell more during peak sales periods such as Black Friday, Mother’s Day and Christmas Day. These are the best money-making periods.
You can offer your customers free shipping instead of giving them discounts or promotions. This will encourage your customers to shop more at your store.
Shopify: How to offer free shipping
Shopify merchants have the ability to choose which shipping rates they want for their products. You can also choose the criteria that shoppers will be eligible for free shipping. These are the most common categories for shipping rates.
Flat, calculated, or Free Shipping Rates
1. Flat Shipping Rates
Flat shipping rates make it easier for customers to checkout.
Different flat shipping rates can be set for different regions. You can, for example, set different shipping rates for delivery to Canada, the US, Europe and any other region.
2. Calculated shipping rates
Shopify merchants can add third-party shipping calculators to their Shopify store. The third-party shipping service automatically calculates your customers’ shipping rates when they make a purchase. This guarantees that customers pay the correct shipping cost.
3. No Shipping Charge
Shopify allows you to add shipping rates for your store on a conditional basis. These conditions can be related to specific products, geographical locations, weights, orders or customer categories.
This is how to set-up free shipping in your Shopify store.
- Log into your Shopify admin dashboard
- Go to Settings and then Delivery and Shipping
- Select Manage Rates on the shipping profile you wish to modify.
- Click Add Rate to add a shipping fee.
- Set the price field value to 0
- Click Save
Step 5 should be followed if you wish to add special conditions to customers before they can receive free shipping
You can set the following:
- Click Add conditions then based on the order price. Then, set a minimum order amount
- Click Add conditions then to select a minimum body weight
- Select products qualify for free shipping. To make it work, adjust the price-based or weight-based conditions. Click Add conditions. Select either the price-based or weight-based condition depending on your preference. Next, enter the minimum and maximum values for the condition.
Tips for offering free shipping to your small business
These are some helpful tips if you plan to offer Shopify free shipping
1. Limit Shopify Shipping Zones
It is a good idea to offer free shipping to all customers. This may not be possible. Instead of removing the free shipping offer entirely, limit it to specific regions or countries. This is a great way not to eat too much, especially if your customers are international.
You may need to limit your free shipping offer by setting different shipping conditions for different countries. You can also choose different shipping rates depending on the country.
This is because people’s buying habits can vary greatly from one location to the next. Free shipping might have a greater ROI in certain regions than it does elsewhere. Some areas are too far away to offer free shipping.
International shipments can be more expensive, take longer and require more complicated procedures. You can also choose to limit the free shipping offer.
2. Get free shipping on certain products and orders over $750
We have already discussed that you can set shipping requirements for customers to be eligible for free shipping.
It is important to realize that not all products qualify for free shipping. If you sell digital products through your Shopify store there is no shipping cost.
You may also need to adhere to certain rules if you are selling large items of furniture or electronic devices. Shipping the products may require special delivery services or additional fees.
Avoid offering free shipping on products such as these. If you have to, however, you could offer your customers a discount on shipping costs. If they return to your store, you could offer to increase the discount.
3. Express Shipping Available with Free Shipping
Free shipping is a great option. Express shipping is an option for customers who want their products to arrive faster.
You should offer your customers at most two shipping options. The first option is free, but takes longer (free shipping), while express shipping costs more but can be done quickly (express shipping).
This gives your customers the ability to decide which is more important to them: fast shipping or low prices. This shows your brand’s generosity and thoughtfulness.
4. Offer holiday and event-based promotions
We discussed previously that holidays and events such as Valentine’s Day or Christmas, Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day or your store’s anniversary, are great times to offer free shipping.
These periods are a great opportunity to increase your sales and get free shipping
5. Get Free Shipping when you Sign up for a Membership
Shopify customers can get free shipping if they are members of one of the membership plans. Combining free shipping with a membership plan can help you increase sales and generate more revenue. You can encourage customers to sign up for memberships, which increases customer loyalty.
Your customers will enjoy exclusive perks and privileges, while you can pay for shipping. You might even be able to get your customers to renew their memberships if you keep this structure in place.
Conclusion
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be different from your competition online, given the popularity of online shopping. Free shipping is a great way to get your customers to shop at your Shopify store. This allows you to establish a strong relationship.
This article will show you how to use free shipping as a marketing strategy for Shopify and how to implement it in your store. It’s hoped that you will take action immediately.
