This past Monday, I posted an infographic on how to optimize your product pages with features that can lead to increased conversions. One of the most popular and widely known is “free shipping”. Free shipping has almost become expected by consumers, as surveys from comScore show, in 2011 more than half of all online transactions during the holidays included shipping at no charge. Before you join many of these e-retailers, it is important to consider and measure how free shipping will affect your short term gains, long term gains, profitability, and competitiveness.
Jane Porter from Entrepreneur.com, describes 5 key mistakes to look out for when offering free shipping to customers. Overall, strategically planning how long you will offer free shipping, when you will offer it, and at what threshold you will offer it, will help you build an effective promotional offer that entices customers without risking significant profit margins. However, do not get carried away with your marketing message and forget about the product!
To read in detail Porter’s “5 Mistakes to Avoid With Free Shipping”, click here.
For a simple tool to help you determine the cost of free shipping on your profit margins, click here.
