Forum Moderators: buckworks
I can:
a) Provide free shipping to customers but have regular prices.
b) Provide large discount to customers but have them pay for shipping.
I can see both sides of the equation being good for customers, but trying to figure out which one is best. I personally have rarely shopped with shipping costs in mind. However, I'm sure many people have.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have been doing this for a long time and I have found that people like "free" shipping more then anything else.
I made the decision to not offer free shipping on the second site because the product was heavy, oversized and therefore very expensive to ship. We are seeing similar conversion ratios on both sites.
-abertone
Many companies offer a fixed cost for the s&h, it's also an option. You have to think economically, make sure that you don't loose money on the free shipping if you choose to use it.. Do the math :) Good luck!
We recently added a major brand to our site, and listed these at retail with free shipping. This made us cheaper or at least competitive with our competition in total, but they are just not moving.
Appears that for widely available products, headline price is what counts for new customers.
We are moving to weight based shipping system where the price is based on actual shipping costs, and setting product prices in line with our competition.
Outside of UK is surface with upgrade options to airmail.
Furthermore you DESERVE to make a profit on shipping because it is one of the most difficult parts of selling online. There are also shipping materials to figure in.
Free shipping is disease that began during the stock market bubble days. Near the end of a disappointing financial quarter, a Dot Com would need to quickly juice sales to meet investor expectations. Presto: Free Shipping! It was about the stock market, not about smart retailing.
Mail order catalogs tend to charge hefty shipping fees.
From the sites I see, free shipping is far less common than a few years ago.
We charge a fixed shipping fee which discourages small orders and rewards large ones. Free shipping over a certain amount may make sense.
I understand and value your arguments, but why bother your customers with heavy shipping fee's and in worst case even the hassle of calculating it, when you can do it without. Your customer satisfaction will increase, your sales will go smoothly, and your customer service will hear a few times every day how your customers just love your company.
At the end it is about selling more, growing and create a stable business, not about talking how idiotic the concept itself might be or where it came from.
Please don’t understand this wrong, but it seems to me that the products you are selling are quite unique to your business, the customers have no way to buy it somewhere else, or you just have no competition. Otherwise I can’t believe that what you said is official company policy.
Your last sentence makes a lot of sense, of course free shipping on a item that's $5 is not worth it. But what I don't understand is why discouraging small orders, if you can rather allow them but educate your customers that they have certain advantages if they buy more. There are lots of ways to do that, for example coupons ($5 off $xx) or free shipping from $x or free gadgets from $x.
Many want to try a company first with some small stuff, before they trust them for their larger orders. But again, this only applies if your products or store is not just a one shot.
Our shipping rates aren't "expensive," but priced fairly...a bit less than out competitors. There are lots of things we could do to benefit our customers. How about giving the product away?
We are in a very competitive field, and have been... for decades, including 10 years online.
My key point: Newbie web retailers should take their cues from experienced old line businesses, not 22-year old coders or whiz-bang stock promoters looking to juice the next Qs sales figures and cash out.
This way, you can cover your shipping cost on the small orders while nudging your customer to purchase more!
Also, we find that most people prefer this flat fee approach rather than the complex "let's see what UPS calculate based on weight/where you live" approach.
One customer in a several thousand complains that shipping is exhorbitant on their $7 order! But the work involved in processing such a tiny order isn't much less than processing a $500 order.
If I want £45 for a book it goes on that particular site at £47.
The buyer not only gets the simplicity of not having to factor in the delievry costs but also the thought of free shipping.
To address one point I would say that one of the greatest problems with internet commerce is not free shipping but that some people see delivery charges as a way of making profit.
It sticks in the customers throat and also leads to an unnatural and false business base which cannot be sustained.
Look at people selling DVD's at cost who just try to make £1 on the delivery - ridiculous
Ultimately I believe you should factor all costs and expenses into you product wherever possible.
I know the cost of shipping all products and the packing materials and I price it into the sale price of each item.
Its not a one size fits all issue sometimes people can accept normal freight, business parcel post or whatever, other times they are willing or even keen to pay more to get it faster (premium rate) or more securely .. or whatever ..
Most of the online sites I buy physical things from allow me those options .. not just a flat one size fits all.
US companies really like to fxxk you if you want them to ship it abroad.
If shipping abroad is such a gold mine for U.S. retailers why is it that most don't export? I doubt that you understand all the issues and costs involved.
I paid 38 dollars in shipping on 78 dollars of vitamins - insane
Just wondering, what sort of vitamins are only available from one source in the whole world?
The US is incredibly secular, partly culture but mostly size and population allow them to be trade wise.
I deal with people all over the world and the Americans are the only ones for example that will not put USA with their address, 90%+ do not add the country!
Look how many international US companies also do not have USA on their address.
My hosting company rejects my credit card everytime I buy new space through my registered account, despite them actually supplying the card details automatically in the form as it has been used 15 times already this year!
Why? I live outside the US apparantly so I have to fax a picture of the card and my driving licence.
Ridiculous
Regards
Rod
>>>why is it that most don't export?
I will tell you why. If you ship a package by Fed Ex or UPS to the UK for example. The couriers companies have a bad habit of charging the VAT back to the shippers courier account. When you get into other parts of the planet, suddenly you find out that product X has a duty of 12.5%, and it appears on your Fed Ex bill long after the fact, which makes it difficult to charge back to the customer.
Once this happens to you a couple of times, somebody at the company says, "hey, the heck with exporting, what a pain in the *ss, lets stick to the domestic market".
So it is easy for a American company to concentrate on selling to the LARGEST MARKETPLACE in the world, the USA.
I'm wondering if anyone has done both and seen a difference in one or the other? Do you think customers are more willing to buy if they see free shipping, or if they see a low price and don't think about shipping? I'm sure there are both kinds of shoppers out there. Just trying to figure out which has more.
To add. My products sell from between $300-$1500 and are fairly large in size.
Maybe you should switch to Purolator (DHL)
Without getting political, I find it nice that so many Americans are Geo-centric and think that the rest of the world is third-world. Being from Canada, we pick up a lot of Canadian customers, that tried to buy from the USA first and was shutout.
Generally people in the US and Canada do not put the country in the address line, as Canada and the USA postal system works together on standarization of state and province codes.
As for adding USA to the address, tell that to someone from The Republic of Texas.
Most vitamins + supplements outside of the C,E,A type are unavailable in my country and even the basic ones are ridiculously expensive as none are made local and all imported - market isnt large enough to justify a domestic industry.
>is their a spot that says duty and taxes are the responsibility
Still on occasion for various reasons we get charge-backs from all couriers. Even when we check the little box. Believe me we use, or have used, all of the big courier companies. They still have a way to nickel and dime you, especially when you ship tonnes and tonnes of product.
Every country has to have a unique system to route mail. Obviously, if Canada Post used a 5 digit system it would cause great problems on both sides of the border.
The Postal Codes in the great white north go right down to one side of a street on a block and often are unique to just a building or two.
However, it does look goofy if you are not used to them, part of our sense of humour (notice the canuck spelling).
Very few American's know about those differences between us. And our Toronto shopping cart techs had no idea that we (and the English too, I think) never used 'expiry.'
Tip for all carts: Use 'Good Through' when requesting the card expiry/expiration date.
