If you’ve been getting a reasonable amount of traffic to your store but you have a high abandoned cart rate, chances are it’s your shipping that’s killing your sales.
Because if buyers are adding products to the cart but they hit the brakes at checkout, it’s a clear signal that what they saw at checkout did not convince them to go ahead with the purchase.
So you may want to consider changing your shipping strategy to increase online sales.
Buyers Love Free Shipping
According to comScore, 77% of online shoppers say that free shipping remains the most important option during checkout and 60% have added items to their cart to qualify for free shipping.
Consumers are doing more research comparing and purchasing online across devices as they are influenced by social media while free shipping continues to drive purchasing decisions.
So, here’s the issue.
While free shipping will encourage shoppers to buy, it should not come at the expense of sellers suffering a loss for running an online business.
What can sellers do?
There are a few changes that you can implement on your store to help increase online sales.
Recalculate Your Shipping
Market trend and survey clearly shows that buyers favor free shipping.
What you can do is to recalculate shipping on your end to try and lower the cost of shipping to your customers.
Find the best value shipping rates by comparing several shipping providers’ rates.
Some of them offer better rates using different services which you can make use of.
You want to cut shipping cost to offer buyers value but don’t forget to let customers know the shipping time frame.
Types Of Free Shipping
If you’re going to offer free shipping, you can either :
– offer based on total order value (Example : Free Shipping on orders above $49) OR
– offer based on total items (Example : Free Shipping for 5 or more items)
Free shipping usually means a longer delivery time.
Consumers WANT free shipping because of the notion that they don’t have to pay for it and that it’s a form of savings for them.
Sellers must remember to state clearly the estimate delivery time frame upfront according to the shipping provider.
Customers have no problem waiting IF they know beforehand the estimated delivery time frame BEFORE they make the purchase.
If not, they may end up cancelling their orders if they are left in the dark as to how long or where their stuff is before they can receive it.
Offer Additional Shipping Methods
If you can’t offer free shipping to customers, there are other alternative shipping methods that you can provide.
Offer a flat rate per order (Example : $4.99 shipping per order) OR
Offer flat fee per item with extra charge per additional item (Example : $4.99 shipping, $2 for each additional item)
Our InstanteStore shipping module has quite a number of shipping options for sellers to make use of.
If you prefer to charge shipping with your own rates, you can configure them based on either product weight, quantity OR price by selecting Configure Pairs.
Whichever option you choose, please simplify it for your customers to understand.
Need help configuring your shipping? Check out how to set up shipping in InstanteStore.
But Customers Want Their Stuff Fast
Some customers do not like to wait to receive their products.
In this day and age, who does? Fair enough.
So if customers want their stuff fast, then they can choose to pay for faster shipping.
Give them that option.
Your online store could have a few shipping options for customers other than free shipping.
You know how Amazon does it. Want your stuff fast, pay more.
Offer International Shipping
Don’t limit your products to only the domestic market.
Oversea buyers may be interested to purchase your products as you want to reach a wider target market group other than the domestic consumer.
Again, check and compare with international shipping providers to see what’s the best value that you can offer international buyers.
If you can offer affordable international shipping, you would have grown your target market audience and not be limited to only the domestic market.
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Display Your Shipping Offer Clearly
Buyers these days don’t have the time to rummage through your entire site looking for how you charge shipping.
Especially if they’re shopping online with their mobile phones.
They want to land on your site, find what they’re interested in and buy.
Hence it’s important that your shipping offer and charges are displayed clearly on your main page.
Whether you’re offering free shipping on everything :
Or setting a minimum amount to qualify for free shipping :
Simplify it and display it clearly so customers understand and they can get on with their online shopping.
You can have a separate shipping page to state down clearly all the other shipping charges and options which customers can refer to if they’re interested.
In Summary
Your products may be attractive but you’ll need to make sure shipping is reasonable and appealing enough for customers to proceed with the purchase.
Knowing that free shipping is one of the main pulling factor for customers to complete their online purchase, offer that clearly on your site.
It’s also a great way to encourage customers to spend more to get free shipping.
Simplify and state clearly your shipping offer on your main page which customers can understand easily.
Also make sure you state the rates and estimate delivery time clearly so customers can make an informed decision and not be left in the dark on how long they can expect to receive their products if they make a purchase.
So change your shipping strategy to increase online sales by :
– offering free shipping
– simplifying shipping charges
– showing your shipping offer clearly on the main page
– ensuring shipping rates and estimated delivery times are stated clearly
– offering affordable international shipping to grow target market
– offer alternate shipping charges for customers who want fast shipping
Try out these changes and measure your sales.
Cut down your abandoned cart rates. If you need to set up abandoned cart emails, here are the steps.
Give customers a good reason to complete their online orders with these shipping strategies.
If you’re unsure on how to configure your shipping methods and shipping rates, please contact our tech support team or get an overview on shipping configuration.
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