Benefits of offering Free Shipping to your customers

Do you know the majority of people don’t make purchases due to shipping fees?  No one wants to pay extra, therefore shoppers tend to buy products with free delivery. Offering free shipping is a beneficial part for your business, whether it is big or still growing. It nurtures loyalty,  promises a sustainable growth for your business and helps you to increase your customer base.   

Hence, many e-commerce platforms have opted for offering Free Shipping after seeing its impact on consumers. It can be viewed as a very effective marketing tool. 

So to not let you stay behind, allow us to present you the benefits of free shipping, why it’s essential and to guide you for using it in your ad campaigns. 

Benefits -

Boost In Sales 

Free Shipping is a great attraction for customers. For the shoppers who are still deciding whether to buy the product or not, giving free shipping nudges them to make purchases since they do not want to pay extra shipping fee. 

Offering free shipping makes your company look generous and can increase your customer experience. 

Loyalty

Offering Free Shipping means recurring purchases from the same customers, which will turn them into loyal customers. Loyal customers are important for every business because it results in profits as well as positive growth. Advantage of loyal customers is, you can encourage repeat purchases and can target a wide audience when they themselves advertise your products. 

Increase in Purchase Orders

Not having free shipping would mean an extra couple of dollars on every product or a little extra money on the final order amount. Therefore, shoppers will easily opt for free delivery and make multiple purchases at one time. 

Advantage between competitors

Offering Free Delivery will shift consumers' attention towards you, away from your competitors. Therefore, it’s an advantage amongst your competitors. 

Types of Free Shipping 

Before you get started with Free Shipping as a marketing tool, it’s important to know different types of free shipping and when & how it can be applied. 

Based on Amount 

You can offer Free Shipping to customers on the total order amount they make. For example, a customer can get Free Shipping on or above 999 INR. This slightly increases chances of a customer making huge purchases because Free Shipping is hard to resist. 

Based On Product

You can make specific products on your e-commerce site eligible for free shipping. Make sure to offer free shipping on products which are trending and high on demand, because they will cover the shipping costs with their profits, So this is a win-win situation for both, your business as well as customers. 

Based on Location

Offering free delivery based on the customer's location. For example, if you are a small business, you can offer free delivery to customers who are nearby or within your city/state/country. 

Based on  a Time Period

You can offer Free Shipping for a limited period of time. For example, offering free delivery on special occasions or on certain festivals. You can even offer a free delivery for a day or two, it will create urgency and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) among customers. 

Based on Program

In specific programs, such as loyalty programs, you can offer customers with free shipping. Rather than giving free shipping to all customers, give it to the customers who are loyal and a part of your brand membership. This will increase their customer experience and will help you maintain a long lasting relationship with them. 

Analyzing Factors 

You are almost there, but before you get started, here are some factors you need to analyze and consider before moving forward with your Free Shipping Campaign. 

Products

Make sure the products you are offering free shipping on are either light weighted or on high demand. Since the shipping cost through a courier company is decided by the product’s  weight, you shouldn’t offer free shipping in heavy products because it will cost you a lot. Location of Customers

Shipping costs for different locations always vary. So always consider this factor before announcing Free Shipping to your customers. 

Success Rate

You need to make sure that offering free shipping will not result in your company’s loss. Draft a plan in advance and calculate to ensure your business’s success rate. 

Picking out an ideal platform

After you have calculated and ready with your strategies, you’ll need to choose a proper platform to execute your Free Shipping program. Signalling a Free Delivery offer on your e-commerce website will alert only the shoppers who visit your website. To reach a large audience you’ll have to select a proper social media platform.

You can opt for WhatsApp as a platform for your Ad Campaign as it’s a popular messenger app worldwide. With WhatsApp, you can reach a large audience and can engage easily with your customers. Apart from that, the official WhatsApp API allows you to create a business account. Therefore, it’s an ideal app to carry out a successful Ad Campaign. 

Here are some examples on how you can use Free Shipping in your WhatsApp Chat Messages -

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With Discounts

You can simply send an alert message to your subscribers about Free Shipping. Apart from normal messages, you can pair Free Shipping with discounts & offers as an extra incentive. This will give buyers another reason to shop and complete their order. 

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Honest Feedback

Honest feedback is always necessary for a business. Therefore, after a product is delivered to a customer, you can ask for honest feedback and offer them free shipping on their next order. This will ensure you getting an honest review of your product and will also nudge them to make a repeat purchase. 

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During Sale

You can offer Free Delivery during your sale season. This will entice shoppers and boost your sales. You can even set a certain order amount for free delivery. For example, offer free shipping on and above orders of $30. You can even add a certain time period till the offer is valid, example, for a day or 48 hours, etc. 

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New Launch 

Free Shipping is hard to resist. Therefore to give a sudden boost to your Newly Launched products, you can offer Free Shipping. To create an urgency, offer it for a limited time only. 

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Abandoned Carts

As stated previously, the majority of people abandon their carts due to excessive shipping costs. Hence, offering Free Shipping is a great tactic to turn abandoned carts into sales. 

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Q1. How does free shipping attract customers?
Ans: Improves customer loyalty: Customers are more likely to come back to your store when you offer free shipping. Helps to stay competitive: All the major eCommerce brands offer free shipping, you can stay in the competition by doing the same.‍

Q2. Is it better to offer free shipping?
Ans: Offering free shipping betters your odds of building a bigger customer base and having a higher volume of orders. With conditional shipping, you may be more likely to have a higher average order value.‍

Q3. Why do people prefer free shipping?
Ans: 79% of consumers say free shipping makes them more likely to shop. It's because the incentive improves the online experience and removes the barrier that shipping costs create. Most importantly, shoppers believe free shipping to be convenient, and convenience shapes shoppers' behavior.

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