How to Set Up Free Shipping on Shopify and Why You Should Do it
In today's world of online shopping, eCommerce stores are facing more competition than ever before. With so many options available to customers, it can be difficult for eCommerce stores to stand out and convince customers to choose their products over those of their competitors. One way that eCommerce stores can improve their chances of success and grow their sales is by offering free shipping to their customers.
Free shipping is a powerful incentive that can attract more customers and convince them to make a purchase from your store. Here are some reasons why you should consider offering free shipping to your customers to boost your conversion rates and drive more sales:
- Free shipping is a powerful incentive for customers to make a purchase
One of the main reasons why free shipping can be so effective is that it reduces the perceived cost of purchasing from your store. Many online shoppers are looking for a good deal, and free shipping can be the deciding factor that convinces them to make a purchase from your store instead of a competitor's. - Reduce shopping cart abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment is a common problem for eCommerce stores, and one of the main reasons for it is high shipping costs. Offering free shipping can help to alleviate this problem and encourage more customers to complete their purchases.
According to Baymard Institute's in-depth research on cart abandonment, shipping cost is a significant factor that can affect the rate of cart abandonment. The research found that high shipping costs are a major deterrent for online shoppers, with many customers abandoning their carts when they are presented with unexpectedly high shipping fees during the checkout process. This can lead to a higher cart abandonment rate, as customers may be unwilling to pay the high fees and will instead choose to shop elsewhere or abandon their purchase altogether. By providing clear and upfront information about shipping costs, as well as offering competitive rates or free shipping, retailers can reduce the likelihood of cart abandonment and encourage more customers to complete their purchases.
- To compete more effectively with brick-and-mortar stores
In many cases, customers are willing to pay a premium for the convenience of shopping in person. By offering free shipping, eCommerce stores can level the playing field and offer customers the same level of convenience as physical stores, while still offering competitive prices. - Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty
Customers appreciate free shipping because it saves them money and makes their shopping experience more convenient. Many online shoppers are willing to make multiple purchases from a store that offers free shipping, knowing that they can save money on each purchase. This can be particularly effective for eCommerce stores that sell products that are frequently purchased, such as groceries or household items. - Differentiate your store from competitors
In a crowded eCommerce market, it can be difficult to stand out from the competition. Offering free shipping can help to set your store apart and give you an edge over your competitors. - Free shipping can increase the average order value
When customers know that they can get free shipping on their orders, they may be more likely to add additional items to their cart to take advantage of the offer. This can result in higher average order values and increased sales for your store.
Offering free shipping is an effective strategy that can be used to boost your conversion rates and drive more sales. By providing this valuable incentive to customers, you can improve customer satisfaction, reduce shopping cart abandonment, and increase the average order values. Ultimately, offering free shipping can help you to grow and succeed in today's competitive online marketplace.
If you are convinced that offering free shipping to your customers on your Shopify store can help you convert more customers and increase your revenue, you may be wondering how to set up free shipping on Shopify and how to promote it. There are a few different ways that you can set up free shipping on your Shopify store, and there are also a variety of strategies that you can use to promote your free shipping offer to customers. In this article, we will discuss some of the ways that you can set up and promote free shipping on your Shopify store. However, before you proceed there are a few things you need to consider before offering free shipping on your Shopify store.
Points to consider before offering free shipping on your Shopify store
There are several factors that you should consider before offering free shipping on your eCommerce store.
1. The potential impact on your overall business costs
Free shipping can be an expensive proposition, especially if you are offering it on all orders or if you have a high volume of sales. You should also consider the potential impact on your profit margins, as you may need to raise your prices to cover the cost of free shipping.
2. On which orders to offer free shipping
When deciding which orders to offer free shipping on, it is important to evaluate the shipping costs of your products and determine whether you can afford to offer free shipping on all orders. If free shipping on all orders is not feasible, then there are several factors to consider when deciding which products and locations to offer it for. These include the profitability of each product, the demand for the product, and the potential impact on overall shipping and fulfillment costs. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can determine which orders or minimum order value to offer free shipping on and maximize the benefits of this strategy without negatively impacting your bottom line.
3. Using free shipping as a promotion
One way to offer free shipping is to provide new customers or recent email sign-ups with one-time promotion codes that qualify them for free shipping on their first order. This can be an effective way to encourage customers to try your products and incentivize them to complete their purchase, while also helping to offset the cost of free shipping. Additionally, this can help to build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business, as customers may be more likely to shop with you again if they have a positive experience with free shipping on their first order.
4. The impact on your customers
Free shipping may encourage more people to shop on your site, but it may also create unrealistic expectations and make it difficult for you to charge for shipping in the future.
How to set up free shipping on Shopify
There are two ways that you can offer free shipping to your customers on Shopify:
- Automatically apply free shipping to orders that meet the specified criteria at checkout.
- Offer a free shipping coupon code that customers can apply at checkout to get free shipping on their orders.
The first method involves setting up a free shipping rate in your Shopify store's settings and specifying the conditions under which it will be applied. This could be based on the order's weight, price, or destination. When a customer's order meets these criteria, the free shipping rate will be applied automatically at checkout.
The second method involves creating a free shipping coupon code in your Shopify store's discounts section. This coupon code can be applied by the customer at checkout to get free shipping on their order. You can specify the conditions under which the coupon code can be used, such as a minimum order value or specific products. You can then promote the coupon code to your customers and encourage them to use it at checkout to get free shipping on their orders.
Steps to set up Shopify free shipping offer that will be applied automatically at checkout:
To set up free shipping on your Shopify store, you will first need to create a shipping zone and a shipping rate for the region where you want to offer free shipping. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Shopify admin account
From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
2. Create a shipping zone
- In the Shipping zones section, click Add shipping zone.
- Enter the name and regions for your shipping zone. For example, you might create a shipping zone called "Free Shipping" that covers the United States.
- Click Save shipping zone.
3. Add the shipping rate for the shipping zone
- In the Shipping rates section, click Add shipping rate.
- Select the shipping zone that you just created from the Zone drop-down menu.
- Enter a name for your shipping rate, such as "Free Shipping".
- In the Rate based on section, select "Price or weight" and enter 0 in the "Maximum order price" or "Maximum order weight" field, depending on how you want to offer free shipping.
- Click Save shipping rate.
Once you have set up your free shipping rate, it will be automatically applied to eligible orders in the specified shipping zone. You can also set up multiple free shipping rates for different regions or for orders of different values. Additionally, you can use the Shopify shipping calculator to provide real-time shipping rates to your customers at checkout.
It's important to note that you may need to factor in the cost of shipping into your product prices or offer free shipping only on orders above a certain value in order to make your free shipping offer profitable for your business. You can also use a shipping app from the Shopify App Store to set up and manage your free shipping rates.
Pro Tip:
If you want to set up your free shipping offer for specific products and locations, then before setting up your shipping rates, it is important to understand the concepts of shipping zones and shipping profiles. Shipping zones are a group of countries or regions that you can define for your shipping rates, while shipping profiles allow you to set up specific shipping rates for particular products and locations.
For more details on shipping profiles and setting up free shipping rates on Shopify, read this article from the Shopify help center.
Steps to set up a free shipping coupon code that customers can apply at checkout
To set up a free shipping coupon on Shopify, you will need to follow these steps:
- Log in to your Shopify account and go to the "Discounts" section of your store's admin dashboard.
- Click on the "Create discount" button.
- Select the "Free shipping" option from the drop-down menu and enter a name for your coupon.
- Next, you will need to specify the conditions under which your free shipping coupon will be applied. This could be based on the order's weight, price, or destination.
- If you want to limit the use of your free shipping coupon to specific customers or products, you can use the "Restrictions" section to set these conditions.
- Finally, make sure to save your changes and activate your free shipping coupon.
For more details on setting up free shipping discounts on Shopify, read this article from the Shopify help center.
Finished setting up your free shipping offer on your Shopify store, and now you're wondering how to promote it? The following are a few strategies that you can use to promote your free shipping offer to your customers.
How to promote a free shipping offer to my customers
You can promote a free shipping offer to your customers in many different ways. Some strategies that you can use include:
1. Use Attrac's Free Shipping Bar
Display a banner or bar on your website's homepage to announce free shipping. This can be a simple banner that announces your free shipping offer or it could be a dynamic banner that changes the message according to cart value to encourage customers to add more products to their cart.
Attrac offers a variety of banner options that can be used to promote your free shipping offer on your Shopify store. Attrac offers a progressive free shipping bar that can help you promote your free shipping offer. Our free shipping bar is easy to set up and customize, and it can be added to any page on your store. You can choose where to display the bar on the page, and it will automatically update to show your customers how much more they need to spend to qualify for free shipping. This can be a powerful incentive that encourages customers to add more items to their cart and take advantage of your free shipping offer.
The following is an example of Attrac’s dynamic free shipping bar:
To learn more about how to set up Attrac on your Shopify store, check out Attrac on Shopify App Store. It's free and simple.
2. Use Attrac's Free Shipping Embedded Banner
Display a banner on your product page to promote your free shipping offer. With Attrac you can add an embedded banner to your product page in a prominent position, over or below the add-to-cart button. The message can be progressive and includes a progress slider to show your customers how much more they need to spend to qualify for your free shipping offer.
The following is an example of Attrac’s dynamic free shipping embedded banner:
3. Promote it in Your Email Marketing Campaigns
If you have a mailing list of customers, you can include information about your free shipping offer in your email marketing campaigns. This can be a standalone email promoting the offer, or you can mention it in your regular newsletters or promotional emails.
4. Feature it in Your Social Media Posts
You can use your social media accounts to promote your free shipping offer to your followers. You can create posts that highlight the offer and encourage your followers to take advantage of it.
5. Use Shopify's built-in tools to promote it
Shopify offers a variety of built-in tools that you can use to promote your free shipping offer to customers who are already in the process of making a purchase. For example, you can use abandoned cart recovery emails to remind customers about their abandoned cart and offer them free shipping to encourage them to complete their purchase. You can also use upselling pop-ups to suggest additional products to customers and offer them free shipping if they add these products to their cart.
In addition to these strategies, you can also include information about your free shipping offer in any promotional materials or ads that you create, such as flyers or print ads. You can also consider offering free shipping during special promotions or sales events to give customers even more incentive to make a purchase from your store.
By promoting your free shipping offer in a variety of ways, you can reach a larger audience and increase the chances of customers taking advantage of the offer. It's important to be creative and consistent in your promotion efforts and to make sure that your free shipping offer is prominently featured and easy for customers to take advantage of.
In short, free shipping is a valuable incentive that can help you attract more customers and boost sales. Offering free shipping can help you grow and succeed in today's competitive online marketplace. Shopify makes it easy to set up free shipping offers, and with just a few steps you can be up and running.
Finally, make sure to learn more about Attrac on Shopify App Store to know why +10,000 Shopify merchants chose Attrac to announce their free shipping offers and grow their sales.
