Free shipping can be viewed in two different ways. For consumers, this is one of the best things online shops can offer them as it’s quite known that shipping cost can dramatically change the total amount of one’s purchase.
As for the sellers, free shipping is somewhat to their disadvantage as that is another thing their shop has to shoulder. However, there are benefits to offering free shipping. Read on to know more about them.
1. It gives your shop a competitive edge.
“People in general love freebies. They love shopping, but they also love getting back something. In the case of online shopping, they still consider a lot of things before actually buying. One of these factors is free shipping. We have noticed conversion going up by 10% just by offering free shipping coupon code in A vs B comparison”, says Christine Brown,founder of Gomontana, which helps small businesses manage coupons and deals.
Multiple shops may offer the same products, so buyers may also look at differences such as the price and shipping cost. When they see that a certain shop offers free shipping, they are more likely to buy from it, which means that if you offer free shipping, it will give you a competitive edge over other shops that basically offer the same products as you do.
2. It serves as a marketing strategy.
As we have established, buyers love freebies. Think of free shipping as a promotion and/or discount. By making it available in your shop, you are opening your gates and expanding your market. The posts and/or advertisements you share that state your free shipping feature is a great marketing strategy which can consequently urge consumers to tell other buyers about it, helping your online shop gain popularity.
3. It helps buyers continue on purchasing.
In online shopping, people can purchase whatever it is they want with a few clicks, but a lot of them seem to hesitate once they reach the check out page. It’s because the price they need to pay is a lot greater than the price they expected due to the shipping fee. This becomes a great loss for your shop. To urge customers to continue buying, offer free shipping. If you want, you can offer it once a customer reaches a certain amount so that it’s not a great loss on your part.
4. It increases the average order value.
There are two ways wherein free shipping causes an increase in a buyer’s average order value. One is that when the online seller requires a certain amount before offering free shipping. Given that the amount is reasonable and is amenable to the buyer, he will continue to add products that he may want or need as well, even small ones, to his order despite originally planning on purchasing one or two products just to get that free shipping. The other is that the buyer would want to take advantage of the free shipping, opting to buy more products at that time to avoid paying for shipping cost the next time.
5. It makes customers loyal.
“ If you are true to your promotions, discounts, and freebies such as free shipping, you can count on your consumers to be loyal to your shop. They are getting something back by purchasing from your store, which makes them feel that your products are even a better buy,”says Lisa Taylor, co-founder of a fitness review website irunnerblog.
6. It increases sales.
This may well be a byproduct of the other advantages of offering free shipping. Because of them, the revenue of the online shop may be expected to increase. It’s not necessarily true what others think that offering free shipping is an absolute deduction to the overall sales of the shop.
CONCLUSION
As agreed by PracticalEcommerce and BigCommerce, free shipping is not always a bad thing for the sellers. It doesn’t necessarily mean added cost to your shop. If you think of the advantages alone, one can argue that it’s a worthy sacrifice.
from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/shipping-and-receiving/6-reasons-for-retailers-to-offer-free-shipping-in-the-age-of-amazon/
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