Free Shipping as Part of Your Marketing Approach

A firm’s online retail website should prioritize the features that matter the most to would-be buyers.

Online shoppers are generally attracted to user-friendly, convenient and cost-effective ecommerce stores.

Shipping and delivery is particularly a concern for shoppers who buy items online. While some prioritize expedited shipment and delivery, others want free shipping, and others wouldn’t mind receiving their order even in as a long as a week.

These diverse expectations explain why lately more merchants offer multiple shipping options to cater for the different needs of their buyers.

Why Your Checkout Page Should Display All Your shipping Options

Your websites checkout page carries all the shipping information that a customer uses to make an informed decision.

Displaying multiple options in detail can be of benefit in the following ways:

• Let shoppers know they can cut on costs
• Helps the buyer calculate shipping expenses and avoid unanticipated fees at checkout
• Boosts conversion rates (of prospects to buyers) and increases the amount shoppers spend on your store.

Your shipping options can make or break a customer’s shopping experience. For shoppers, free shipping and delivery is a priority, yet fewer retailers care to offer it these days— only 20 percent in 2019 from 40 percent in 2016 according to Shippo.com’s 2019 State of Shipping Report.

More findings from the report show that 50% of ecommerce shoppers favor stores that deliver for free. Almost 30 percent of shoppers said they’d buy ONLY in stores that ship for free. And another 20 percent said they will abandon a brand that doesn’t ship for free for another.

So adding free shipping (even with some conditions) can go a long way in ensuring many shoppers complete checkout and place an order— and reduce cart abandonment significantly.

How to Launch a Successful Free shipping Campaign.

So how can you use the free shipping and delivery agenda to increase conversion rates?

Follow these steps to get started.

1. Notify your shoppers of your free shipping options by email.

Prepare a list of email addresses you’ve gathered from clients and would-be clients to inform your audience of the free delivery option.

Marketing through emails allows you to get in touch with every shopper and explain in detail the specifics of each free shipment option.

More than 80 percent of consumers who’ve subscribed to a retailer’s email base anticipate some form of price cut according to a study posted in Conversio.com

So free shipping marketing emails is an excellent chance to convert more prospects into buyers.

2.Display a free shipping placard on your online retail site.

If you choose to do shipping and delivery for free, adding a posters on you product and checkout pages is an excellent way to notify shoppers about the offer.

That way, anyone who browses your website can tell you offer free delivery and make steps to purchase.

Specify whether you offer “free order shipping” or free order shipping with certain conditions” (e.g., for goods worth $50 or more). Use a bold visible poster with a color that stands out.

Mention whether you website does charge-free free delivery for local shipments only or whether the offer applies to buyers in and across borders.

3. Promote it on Social Media Page.

Don’t forget to leverage the power of social media.

Use you social media pages to reach out to all prospects who follow you on the various social media pages with your free delivery campaign. Try it, you’ll be surprised how fast the news will spread

4. Run ad campaigns.

Launching paid ads in different platforms is an excellent way to attract and keep clients. Include detailed and straight-to-the-point message and correct links to the relevant pages.

Learn more about ads and how they can help attract and retain customers in this guide.

5. Gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

Use these guiding questions to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategy

• Did the strategy attract new clients or was more appealing for repeat clients?
• Did it boost up the number of orders placed on your ecommerce site?
• Did spending per order increase?
• Finally, did the free delivery campaign rake in returns in general?

Use the troves of customer data you have to gauge the effectiveness of your campaign.

Closing Up

Shipping and delivery is now key to an ecommerce website’s marketing campaign because customers love discounts and many other retailers offer it.

Also, ensure you measure the cost-effectiveness and ROI of you free shipping strategy before you implement it.