{"id":13640,"date":"2025-02-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crazyeggblog.wpengine.com\/?p=13640"},"modified":"2025-02-24T16:41:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T21:41:05","slug":"how-to-offer-free-shipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/how-to-offer-free-shipping\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Offer Free Shipping and GROW Profit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve ever wondered, \u201cShould I offer free shipping to customers?,\u201d there\u2019s only one answer: yes, you should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free shipping is always <\/em>worth it. A 2022 Statista survey<\/a> found that 68.2% of global consumers are more likely to make an online purchase if it comes with free shipping.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Free Shipping?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Free shipping is an ecommerce marketing strategy where the seller covers the costs of shipping a product to the customer. This lets customers get their orders without paying any delivery charges on top of the price paid for the products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not you offer free shipping can make or break a sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global shopping cart abandonment<\/a> is at 70.19%<\/a>, up from 68.07% in 2014. Most shoppers abandoned their carts because of extra, unexpected costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Shipping and Shopping Cart Abandonment: A Mini Case Study<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, I decided to order a bicycle from Guardian Bikes for my then-7-year-old, who was struggling to learn to ride his \u201cnormal,\u201d non-Guardian brand bike. Guardian\u2019s ads about its safe and easy-to-ride bikes convinced me to check product reviews, which were overwhelmingly positive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even better, the company was running a free shipping promo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was ready to drop almost $400 on a bike with all the (literal) bells and whistles for my kid to experience the joy of gliding down the street without training wheels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then I entered my shipping address. My Alaska <\/em>shipping address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Guardian<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This tacked on a fee of over $300 additional dollars, which I was not prepared to pay. Confused and hoping this was a fixable typo\u2014there was <\/em>a free shipping promo, after all\u2014I messaged the company via Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turns out, the company couldn\u2019t include states like Alaska and Hawaii in its promos because of how much it costs to ship bikes here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a bummer, because I\u2019d already had my kid pick out his favorite colors for a bike. I couldn\u2019t justify paying almost double the price of the bike just for shipping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure Guardian Bikes said something like \u201ccontinental US states only\u201d on the free shipping promo\u2019s fine print, but I didn\u2019t see it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long story short? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not purchase a Guardian Bike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure their bikes are great, and I know it costs a lot to ship stuff up here to the 49th state. But it\u2019s unfortunate the company couldn\u2019t figure out how to offer free shipping in a way that made sense for its bottom line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I\u2019d been fully committed to hitting that buy button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Free Shipping Worth It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, free shipping is worth it because it drives conversions and profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anecdotally, my own experience with not-so-free shipping supports this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But hard, cold research backs it up too: online stores with free shipping make more money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2018 Walker Sands Future of Retail Report<\/a> found that 80% of customers consider free shipping a factor that makes them more likely to buy from online stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2022 study<\/a> published in the peer-reviewed journal, Applied Economic Letters, <\/em>researcher Chinonso Ezenwa Etumnu\u2019s findings support this narrative, too. Products with free shipping tend to experience higher sales on average. Specifically, Etumnu studied ground coffee products on Amazon.ca.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etumnu found that coffee products eligible for free shipping moved up 435 places<\/em> in their best sellers rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This (very) notable uptick in sales creates a reinforcing cycle: Amazon customers want to avoid shipping fees, free shipping often coincides with lower prices, lower prices contribute to higher average ratings, and higher ratings drive greater product demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, free shipping almost always pays for itself. But you do have to do it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Offer Free Shipping While Growing Profit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are several ways you can offer free shipping without sacrificing profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s explore each one, step by step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Incorporate Shipping Costs into Product Prices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most obvious way to offer “free” shipping to customers is to include shipping expenses in the price of your products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t as simple as just slipping full shipping costs into every product price, though. You’ve got to do it carefully and strategically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, analyze what your competitors are charging for the same or similar products. Especially competitors that also offer free shipping. You’ll want to aim for a price that stays competitive while still covering your shipping costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your adjusted price is a lot higher than competitors, consider these next steps to keep your pricing attractive: <\/p>\n\n\n\n