If you run an online store, you want to do two things:

• Make Money
• Make your customer happy

While there are other benefits to consider while operating an online web store, the ones described above are the most important. So, how do you keep track of everything? There are other ways to kill two birds with a single stone. Online savings and free delivery are two of them.

Is It Good for Businesses to Offer Free Shipping?

Free delivery is an excellent e-commerce strategy to increase the number of customers that buy from your online store. Every consumer would looks for an opportunity to receive free delivery for their order(s). As a result, people frequently select an eCommerce site that offers free delivery services while purchasing. Customers’ behavior might alter dramatically when they are provided free delivery.

Pros

1. As customers purchase at your eCommerce store, one of the most prevalent issues that arises is that of abandoning their shopping carts. This occurs when a buyer adds something to their shopping basket but never purchases it. The most prevalent cause for customers abandoning their shopping carts is when they discover that the delivery charges are too high during the checkout process.

2. According to 74 percent of customers, the cost of delivery is the most important factor to consider while purchasing. Additionally, nine out of ten customers expect free shipping as a default service from a merchant. Customers consider delivery prices before making their purchases. Customers are attracted to shipping services that are favourable to them.

3. Finding new customers is far more difficult than selling to existing customers. This is why keeping your existing customers happy can be more beneficial to your business in the long-run. If a customer has a bad experience ordering from a brand, they are unlikely to do so again. One of the primary reasons for not purchasing again was that their order was not delivered on time.

Cons

1. It’s not always a smart idea to provide free delivery. To provide “free” delivery, you must charge a higher price for the goods. Sellers are thus forced to pick between two bad options:

• Make shipping accessible and raise the product’s price.
• Take the shipping costs and make less money at the end of the day.

2. If you don’t want to charge for delivery and can’t afford to raise your product’s price, you might want to choose a budget shipping services instead. This can help in reducing delivery expenses without passing extra cost on to the customers as an additional fee in order to save money.

Discounting should be thought of as a “short term strategy.”

Discounts do not always work in business. They have a negative impact on your bottom line and are not the greatest method to start your online business. Discounting is not a suitable long-term strategy. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The pie-chart above shows the range of incentives available to a merchant, as well as their popularity of their usage. A merchant can choose one or a combination of these incentives to boost orders and sales.

When prices are reduced, the perceived value of a product decreases in the eyes of the customers. Many customers will leave your web store if they do not believe your product is valuable.

Thus, business dynamics such as a high cart abandonment rate, a low willingness to pay, a low profit margin, and an unpredictable growth rate of your business will determine whether you want to offer free shipping or discounts to your customers.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on whether offering free shipping or discounts boosted your business, or what else you did to increase sales.