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How Offering Free Shipping
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If you’re going to succeed online, then you’re going to have to offer free shipping in one form or another since free shipping is one of the most effective marketing tools being used online today to encourage consumers to buy. In fact, just by placing the “Free Shipping” headline on each and every page of your website you can boost sales practically over night.

Furthermore, offering free shipping encourages customers to order more products to their shopping cart than what they planned on purchasing in the first place. More than 60% of online stores cite "free shipping" as their most successful marketing tool. And over 50% of customers abandoned online shopping carts after seeing the total cost with shipping fees included.
   
Free shipping is one of the most successful marketing strategies that help customers complete the transaction. And if you fail to offer free shipping in one form or another then you risk the potential of losing sales daily. However, there is a catch.

Free shipping may be free for your customers but someone has to pay for it. And more often than not, that someone is you, the business owner.

There may be circumstances where distributors may offer free ground shipping on large orders with multiple or high ticket items. However, for the most part, those free shipping costs are going to be deducted from your profit.

Therefore, if you’re going to offer free shipping then you’re going to have to offer the cheapest form of shipping available, such as UPS Ground shipping, which is also the standard for free shipping online.

2 to 3 day shipping services can cost anywhere from $15 to $25 or more while UPS Ground shipping can cost less than $10 and take only a couple of more days for the package to arrive at your customers location.

You’ll also need to make sure that you can afford to lose $10 from the profit of that product while still being able to make a profit, as little as it may be. But even a small profit is better than no profit at all. And a customer sold is a new customer gained.


Types of free shipping offers

Although many online stores offer free shipping, many more stores offer free shipping with conditions as well.

Free shipping on every item: Depending on what type of products you sell, you may very well be able to offer free ground shipping on every item you sell without losing much of your profit, especially when you’re selling your products at high profit margins.

However there are certain products where offering free shipping may not be feasible and therefore may require you to limit your free shipping offer just as many retailers do online, especially for small ticket items.

Free shipping on almost every item: Free shipping on almost every item can become your policy if at least 70% of your products or more include free shipping.

Free shipping on selected items: You can also offer free shipping on selected items such as digital cameras for example yet charge for shipping on accessories such as travel chargers, camera cases etc…

There has to be enough profit margin on the sale of the product in order for you to be able to offer free shipping while still being able to make a profit.

You can however offer free shipping on both camera and carrying case when the customer buys both together and you’re able to get both items from the same distribution warehouse.

Free shipping for all orders placed online: If there’s enough profit margin for every item you sell then you can offer free shipping for every item when the items are ordered online.
  
This is also one of the best ways to get people to order online instead of calling you to order by phone. However, you need not worry as more customers tend to place their orders online than over the phone. And a notice for “free shipping for all orders placed online” will encourage them to do so.

Free shipping over $50: You can also offer free shipping on items over a certain dollar amount or when multiple items reach a set amount. For example, free shipping on all orders over $50.

If your niche market offers accessories for your products then this is the best time to up-sell your customers on those accessories by adding and offering those accessory items on that same product page.

If the customer sees that they have to buy one or two more items in order to meet your free shipping order rate then they’ll be more than happy to do so.

When customers order multiple products or high ticket items then the total price of the order is more than enough to cover the UPS Ground shipping fees without hurting your bottom line.
   
  
Implementing free shipping

Implementing free shipping is as simple as adding the free shipping option in your shopping cart and assigning it a value of $0.00 and a time frame of anywhere from 4 to 6 business days. And you can add your shipping options from within the administration area of your shopping cart program.


Conclusion

Free shipping has become the way of the web. And in order to remain competitive, offering free shipping in one form or another is one of the best ways to do so.

Whether it be free shipping on all items, selected items, or items over $50, it’s important to offer free shipping as an incentive for customers to buy online and become repeat customers as well. And offering free shipping, can and will boost your online sales.
    
     
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Main Article Index Page
How to Succeed in Your Online Store Business
How to Start Your Online Store Business
How to Choose Your Niche Market
How to Create an Effective Business Name
Check for Domain Name Availability
How to Register Your Business Name
Should You Use a PO Box or Home Address
How to Choose the Right Business Entity for You
Sole Proprietorships Explained
Corporations Explained
Partnerships Explained
Limited Liability Companies Explained
Incorporate Your Business Online
How to Obtain Your Sales Tax License
The Best Selling Products Online (Intro)
1. Books
2. Computers, Computer Hardware
NEW:Start a Computer Reseller Business Online
3. Computer Software
4. Consumer Electronics
5. Apparel, Clothing
6. Toys/Video Games
7. Videos DVD’s
8. Health and Beauty
9. Music
10. Jewelry
11. Office Supplies
12. Linens/Home Décor
13. Flowers
14. Sporting Goods
15. Footwear, Shoes
16. Small Appliances
17. Tools and Garden
18. Gifts
About Distribution
Choosing the Right Distributors
How to Get Signed-Up With DropShip Distributors
Books Distributors, DropShippers, Wholesalers
Computers, Hardware, Software DropShippers
Apparel, Clothing Distributors, DropShippers
Toys/Video Games DropShippers, Wholesalers
Video DVD  DropShippers, Wholesalers
Health and Beauty Distributors, DropShippers
Consumer Electronics DropShippers
Music Distributors, DropShippers, Wholesalers
Jewelry Distributors, DropShippers, Wholesalers
Office Supply Distributors, DropShippers
Linens/Home Décor DropShippers, Wholesalers
Flowers Distributors, DropShippers, Wholesalers
Sporting Goods Distributors, DropShippers
Footwear, Shoes Distributors, DropShippers
Small Appliances DropShippers, Wholesalers
Tools and Garden DropShippers, Wholesalers
Gifts Distributors, DropShippers, Wholesalers
How to Find More DropShippers, Wholesalers
How to Open Your Online Store
How to Build Your Own Online Store
How to Build Effective Product WebPages
Building Your eStore with Website Templates
Designing, Planning and Organizing Your eStore
Implementing Graphic Elements
How to Create Your Own Company Logo
Create Search Engine Optimized Product Pages
How to Create a Content Rich Website
Choosing Your Web Host Provider
Create a Search Engine Optimized Domain Name
Check for Domain Name Availability
Top Web Building Software Programs
Top 10 Web Host Providers
Top 10 Complete eCommerce Solutions
Top Website Developers
All About Shopping Carts
All About Payment Processing
All About Merchant Accounts
Using PayPal as a Payment Processing Solution
More Merchant Account Providers
All Merchant Account Providers
Setting Your Prices
Setting Shipping Charges
Maintaining Your Online Store
Your Internet Marketing Master Plan
All about Search Engines
The Top Search Engines
Search Engine Optimization Guide Pt.1
Search Engine Optimization Guide Pt.2
All about Building and Exchanging Links
Purchasing Text Link Ads
All about Press Release Marketing
All about Pay-Per-Click Marketing
All about Discussion Forum Marketing
All about Article Marketing
All about Email Marketing
All about Banner Advertising
How Offering Free Shipping Can Boost Sales
All about 800 Toll Free Numbers
How to Beat the Competition
How to Run an Online Store Business
Dealing with Customers
How to Minimize Interaction with Customers
How to Deal with Customers via Email
How to Take and Place Orders
Paying for Products with Your Customers’ Money
How to Collect Sales Tax for Internet Sales
Avoiding Credit Card Fraud
How to Ship International and Overseas
How You Get Paid Each and Every Day
Dealing with Product Returns and Exchanges
Sample Return Policy and Procedures
Sample Privacy Policy
Sample Terms and Conditions Policy
Conclusion
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