There is no word quite like “free” when it comes to enticing consumers. Let’s be honest. When it comes to saving money, it doesn’t get any better than free. That’s why when e-commerce businesses offer free shipping, it goes a long way in helping those companies thrive.
Keep something in mind. “Free” to your customers doesn’t have to mean “free” to you. If you pad your product prices a little bit to help cover shipping costs, you don’t necessarily lose out. The feeling of getting a bargain, however, is what you give shoppers. And that helps to grow your online sales.
Customers will choose your business over others.
There’s nothing like stealing away customers from the competition to grow your sales. If your competitors aren’t offering free shipping on their websites, you’ll automatically get a leg up. Make no mistake about it. The majority of online shoppers are fairly savvy. They look for deals before clicking on “buy” buttons. Give your online shop an advantage by boldly declaring “free shipping” on all orders. Then watch your customer base grow!
“Simply put, customers like free things,” reminds Paul Stainton on MarketplaceSolutions.ca, “They often weigh free shipping as the most important criteria for whether or not they’ll shop with any given online retailer. From a survey of more than 5,000 Canadian shoppers in the Canada 2020 E-Commerce Report, shoppers reported that free shipping is their top influencer driving their choice of online retailer, making them 80% more likely to shop.”
Free shipping greatly increases customer satisfaction.
For many consumers, shipping costs are “extra” costs. Instead of seeing them as necessities, they’re seen as nuisances and unnecessary expenses. Naturally, it costs money to ship packages. But that doesn’t mean the average customer will be particularly pleased about it. To grow customer satisfaction, offer free shipping and rid people of the burden of “extra” costs during their online shopping experiences.
“I don’t know about you but I hate paying for shipping,” declares Taylor Haahr on TheFrugalpreneur.com, “Don’t get me wrong, I know that I ultimately pay for it—I just hate to see it as a line item on a bill. It’s awful to see $300 for Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones plus $28 in shipping.”
Customers will be encouraged to spend more.
Which business owner doesn’t want his/her average order sizes to go up? You’re likely always thinking of ways to increase sales. When your customers receive the option of free shipping, it gives them greater freedom to spend more. The savings, many of them believe, allow for additional purchases to be added to the shopping experience with ease.
“A survey from HubSpot found that 24% of customers are ready to spend more to qualify for free shipping,” reports Stainton, “They would rather spend money on an additional item, something else tangible they can have, than on the hidden costs of shipping that they often get for free on other websites. On top of that, 86% of online shoppers from the E-Commerce Report survey said they will shop more often with retailers who offer free shipping.”
Is your company in need of a safe and secure e-commerce solution? Unity Payments can help you take advantage of this ever-growing trend. We’ve made selling online easier than ever! Please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca to learn more.
