Increase Conversions and Earn Repeat Business With Free Shipping

When talking about e-commerce business, shipping cost plays an eminent role and we have some statistics to authenticate it.

Today when there is an e-commerce website for almost anything and everything, it becomes difficult for you to compete and outgrow your competition in this ever-emerging domain.

So, how do you stay at par with e-commerce giants like Amazon, eBay etc. which offer Free Shipping, especially on high cart value orders?

As the above statistics speak, you will need to be competitive with your shipping costs as adjusting your product prices all the time doesn’t seem to be a viable option. Getting repeat business is one of the most important goal and toughest challenge to achieve for your e-commerce business.

Let’s have a look at Free and Reduced Shipping as a means to grow your scope of repeat business.

Why Focus on Free Shipping?

With the digital world taking over our lives, consumers today expect online shopping to be cheaper compared to offline. Shipping is the vital cost difference between digital and physical shopping, especially if a buyer is purchasing only one product. It’s the convenience fee they pay for not requiring to go to a physical store.

For majority of the buyers who shop online, free shipping holds a high perceived value. Offering Free Shipping for every purchase/product would not be viable or would lead to losses. In such cases, the best way to leverage Free Shipping is by offering it to the buyer as a reward/incentive for a certain type of purchase.

Implementing Free or Reduce Shipping!

If you want to offer Free Shipping to your customers but still ensure there aren’t any losses, set a threshold for the same. Say, if a customer has added a product worth $25, you can notify the customer to add just $5 more in the cart and enjoy Free Shipping. Basically, the idea here is to persuade the customer to increase their cart value from what they had planned, so that it leads to a win-win situation for both –you and your customer.

Also, consider marketing and promoting your low cost products along with your regular or key offerings as means to hit the Free Shopping threshold quickly and easily. In order to enhance your repeat business, design a reward program for your loyal customer base and keep giving them reasons to come back to you – always!

Make it easy for your customers to come back!

There’s always a question – Won’t a satisfied or delighted customer come back anyway?

In most cases, yes! But why not make it easy for them?

Keep your promises and communicate them from the very beginning of your customer purchase journey. Send that discount coupon code in the ‘Thank You for shopping with us’ email you sent to the customer after they’ve made a purchase. Email marketing is still one of the most useful tools for conversions. It helps build a long-term relationship with your customer and keeps the engagement alive.

Once a customer has completed his purchase from you, there’s a lot you can do to influence his repeat purchases. Offer them free shipping on their next purchase, on sharing your products/purchase on social media or by referring a friend.

Using the Free Shipping trump card smartly can be your way to earning repeat business on a large scale. A happy, delighted, surprised customer always brings in more of them. All you need to do is, put in efforts to get them back, because they won’t on their own.