For this post, I want to share about a sales tactic that every reader has likely encountered: free-shipping. You may ask, “how is free shipping a sales tactic?” If you’re a shopaholic like me, you probably love free shipping. In fact, it’s one of those things I search for on a checkout page, if I don’t just assume free shipping is offered. Everyone loves the convenience of online shopping, but an entire shopping experience can be ruined by additional shipping charges at checkout.
From a consumer’s angle, realize that free shipping often comes at a cost. If you have to add items to your cart to qualify for free shipping, how does the cost of those additional items compare to the cost of shipping? Is shipping free because that additional cost has simply been tacked on to the total cost of the item? On the other hand, sellers should never take buyers through a checkout process and then attempt to add shipping charges. This violates all trust and often leads to a negative attitude that buyers love to share with friends and family.
Hopefully by reading this you become both a more informed buyer, and a more informed seller.
Happy shopping and selling,
Josh
testacr22
I completely agree that finding out that shipping is not free is a complete turn off. I can’t even remember how many times I have gotten to checkout ready to buy an item, but have chosen not to make the purchase because of a hidden shipping fee.
I barely ever buy anything online unless it has free shipping. However, I’m convinced that the cost of shipping is added into the price of the product and they make free shipping sound like a really good deal, but I think we end up paying the same amount.
Free shipping is indeed an excellent sales tactic for ecommerce because people love to feel like they are getting a deal. In reality, most companies who offer free shipping simply factor the cost of shipping into the original price of the product, so you actually are paying for shipping without realizing it. Companies who charge you additional costs for shipping at the checkout are actually being more honest but we often penalize them for it by not buying from them. Just goes to show we prefer a reassuring lie to an inconvenient truth.