Free shipping leads about 63% of consumers to put more items in their cart, and also to indicate the store that is offering the benefit to other people. This data is from research done by ComScore and reveals the importance of taking free shipping into account in your sales strategy.
Choosing not to offer it can give your consumer margins to look for other brands that offer more flexible shipping policies, and offering it if a strategy can trivialize and jeopardize your profit margins.
In this article we will talk about the benefits of offering special shipping conditions and how this strategy should be applied to bring positive results and increase your average ticket. Read on and enjoy the bonus at the end! :)
Is it worth offering free shipping?
In recent years, a good part of e-commerce operations have been opting for Free Shipping as a way to attract consumers interested in their products and increase the conversion of their sites.
And this strategy is proving to be effective, not only by the increase in the average ticket during the period, but to the customer's eyes, which is more open to consume. A Webshoppers survey reveals that 60% of consumers prefer to pay cheaper freight, even with longer delivery times.
But for the strategy to be a success, it is necessary to define the best shipping policy in order to avoid losses in your online store. A poorly executed strategy can lead to losses in your profit and brand image.
Therefore, always evaluate the best moments to apply the campaign and if it is fundamental for the consumer's buying decision. Be sure to perform a financial planning, analyzing sales volume, average ticket, and logistics costs to outline the correct way to offer the delivery tax exemption.
What are the benefits of offering special conditions in my online store?
Before making any purchase, consumers evaluate the value of the product and also the time and value of delivery. If the cost or the delivery time are not interesting, the purchase may be abandoned, and the consumer will look for a competitor.
Free shipping in e-commerce, comes to circumvent this situation and the strategy when well structured, can bring positive impacts to your online store, we list some examples:
- Significant increase in sales: Your customer will not need to worry about delivery expenses, this makes your store more attractive. And if you require conditions to earn the benefit, such as minimum value for example, you will see that the amount of products per order will also increase.
- Attracting new customers to your site: Free Shipping is a great trigger to promote your brand through word of mouth. People will refer your store more often if there is an attractive offer.
- Customer Loyalty: By promoting free shipping, you unconsciously encourage your customer and make new purchases, making them consume your products more often.
- Increased competitiveness: Offering free shipping can put your brand ahead of the competition and even give your store more visibility in the market in which it operates.
- Reduction of cart abandonment: One of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment is the delivery fee, with the exemption of this fee the amount of cart abandonment decreases and the number of sales increases.
- Boost sales in specific periods: Using this strategy in specific periods, such as seasonal dates or even in periods where there is low demand in e-commerce. Free shipping can boost sales and generate many conversions on your site.
How to offer free shipping?
Now that you know the benefits that offering free shipping can bring to your e-commerce, learn how to adopt the strategy correctly:
Promotion on seasonal dates
Offering free shipping in specific periods, such as seasonal dates, can be an interesting way to boost sales in short periods. In addition, it is a way to keep your store competitive during special dates and increase the rate of access and conversions.
Besides the already common retail dates, such as Mother's Day or Christmas, try to find dates that speak to the market that you operate and even important dates for your brand, such as birthdays.
Free shipping throughout the store
Your store can choose to offer free shipping on all products in the store, without restriction of purchase. This way attracts customers who are not interested in shopping for many items, and although it is a greater incentive to the consumer, it can be a risky way of doing business.
Prefer to offer the benefit this way if your store works with products of high added value, thus avoiding that the cost of logistics exceeds the profit of the purchase.
Restricting items
It is also possible to select some products that will have the option of free shipping and highlight them on your site. This is interesting because your brand can highlight products with higher profit margin, bringing less risk to your business.
In addition, restricting items makes this option easier to manage, since they are specific items.
It is worth remembering that it is necessary to make the conditions clear to the customer before the purchase is closed, to avoid possible complaints or even withdrawals.
Minimum value restriction
And finally, the most widely adopted modality for offering free shipping is to determine a minimum purchase amount. In this option, the customer has access to the benefit if his purchase meets the promotion condition.
Consumers are usually more motivated to put more items in the cart to reach the minimum amount established and therefore increase the average ticket of your sales.
It is worth remembering that it is necessary to know your profit margin and average shipping costs so that your company does not lose out.
And if you like this option, we have an unmissable promotion, check it out:
Plugin "Freight Ruler" for vtex stores, with free installation in your e-commerce. That's right, by accessing this link, you can request the installation of this plugin that shows the customer the amount of money left to receive free shipping on his purchase. It is a way to awaken the sense of urgency in your customer and inform him about the promotion.
Remember that the free installation is for a limited time, and restricted to stores that use the VTEX platform.
Did you like to learn more about the free shipping strategy for e-commerce? Tell us about it.
