Having problems with People CHECKING OUT!

It's the high shipping costs

[Brock]

I've created a website selling widgets at an incredible price. They're heavy though... 20-55 lbs.. I'm in Florida so shipping up north could cost 14-20 bucks or shipping accross the country could get even higher..

Each widget costs about $39-70...

Do you have any suggestions on cheaper shipping methods? I've seen too many people make it to the shipping section of the shopping cart and just bail.

[lorax]

Develop a network of stock locations at optimal locations around the country and keep a few of your most popular items at them. Then hire someone to ship your products from the location closest to the destination.

[Essex_boy]

I ship low cost items that are heavy, shipping costs are greater than teh cost of teh products.

So I increased teh price to cover shipping and have a $1 shipping per item world wide offer.

Worked well.

[BananaFish]

If the price is so "incredible", simply raise the price and offer an "incredible" shipping rate.

[Brock]

That's what a few people suggested, but in my mind I believed that showing the people that I'm selling these cases at incredible prices.. and not taking advantage..

I dont know.. I've had a few sales today already.. Maybe it'll take off!

[ccDan]

Can you give them a choice of shipping options?

Are you quoting exact shipping costs? Or, do you quote shipping cost plus a handling fee and adding in the cost of the box and other packing supplies? If so, are you rounding off, or listing an "odd" shipping price.

What I'm getting at is that if you say shipping is $20.00, people may think you're making your money on the shipping. If you say shipping is $19.81, then it looks more like an actual shipping estimate. Make sense?

Do you have any other way for people to estimate shipping cost without going through the checkout process? It may be that people are trying to get an idea of total price (perhaps for price comparison or later purchase) and can only do so by going through the checkout process.

[rocknbil]

Brock have you looked at USPS Flat Rate Shipping?

A friend of ours has a particular piece of exercise equipment that weighs in at 30 lbs each but fits in a 10x10x6 box. (approx.) Using flat rate shipping boxes, she shipped us *6* of these boxes for a total of about $30, and Flat Rate is always priority. The post office told us if we used any other method it would have been several hundred dollars.

See if your product fits in a Flat Rate Box, this is what that service is for.

[gpilling]

I had a similar problem. I raised the prices on the widget and lowered the cost of shipping. Sales went up, so I kept experimenting until I got to free shipping, with the cost built in to the price.

I have also used the USPS flat rate box in the past with great results. Too bad not every widget will fit them.

[dpd1]

I think there's going to be people that check out no matter what you do. I wouldn't necessarily look at it like you're doing something wrong. If your price is good and shipping is fair, then you've done what you can. You'll never get 100% of everybody. If the price is $49.95 and shipping is $16... that puts it to $65.95 and maybe over a psychological limit in some people's minds... But the same thing could happen if the price is $65.95 and free shipping. Or if the price was $19.95 with $7 shipping... That total is still going to go over a psychological limit in some people's minds. I think it's kind of 6 of one, half dozen of the other. My thinking is go with the lower price to begin with, because that's the first thing they see. You've got a better chance with them following through once they click through, because they're already set on buying it at that point. Of course everybody has their own theories.

[Corey Bryant]

People never really look at the entire picture. We actually went through this two weeks ago. A fellow MS MVP told me he would give me a good deal on OpenHouse products. I took him up on the offer but he said we would have to pay for the shipping (which he did not actually know until it was shipped). Shipping was billed to us ($52.00).

But we still saved probably about $250 or so. If there is a way that you can build the API to show real time shipping as they are checking out, you might be able to save the sale. Maybe try to do a comparison of another site (without giving the name of said site) and saying by using us, you are saving XX amount

-Corey

[MrFishGuy]

We have flat rate shipping based on price. When we have heavy items, we charge extra for shipping to cover the extra cost, but we tell them up front that it's going to happen. We do it by giving them the price of the item and telling them there's an extra x dollars additional shipping for that item. If they add the item to the cart it appears in the cart as "item plus extra shipping" with he total price. People seem to like that better than building it into the price or getting hit with it at the end.

[Brock]

I will look into the usps flat rate shipping method and see if this works..

Thanks for the advice!

[walstib]

BROCK. I understand your reasoning in your product pricing but consumers are born with a natural alergy to high shipping prices. Its like water to a cat. You could sell your widget for .02cents and would still lose sales over the shipping costs.

I agree with the replies above however I would bump up your cost to cover shipping and offer FREE SHIPPING. Those words are like cat nip to a consumer...it often puts them into a dreamy bliss that causes them to forget your original product price.

...but seriously try the free shiping option for a test run and I'm sure you will see your cart abandonment rate drop substantially.

[piatkow]

I can't comment from the site owner's point of view as I do not ship physical product but from my own experience as a web savvy purchaser:
1. If shipping is a flat rate I tend to buy a little extra to average out the cost.
2. If shipping is free over a certain value I sometimes buy a little extra to trip the limit (my daughter is a sucker for spending an extra 10 to save 3 on shipping!)
3. If shipping goes up with order size then I go elsewhere.
4. Most sites charge similar amounts for shipping, I tend not to trust a site that goes outside this range.
5. I tend to stay with suppliers I trust even if there are better prices elsewhere.

[Lizion Solutions]

Brock, I agree with Walstib. FREE shipping is the way to go. We have a client that sells products for much higher than the market value but they offer free shipping over $25 and growth has been phenominal.

In addition I suggest setting a minimum threshold for the shipping i/e: $25, $50 etc, this will also help increase your average ticket price and also contribute to growth.

If sales are flat experiment with this for 30 days then come back and give us a report.

- Jamie

[Lizion Solutions]

Brock,

It is hard to give you solid numbers without knowing your margins but I would recommend bumping the

$39 widgets up $15 to $54.99
$70 widgets up $15 to $84.99

Don't be afraid if you are in a competitive market. Do not underestimate the power of the FREE SHIPPING banner. It is intoxicating to consumers. Just make sure it is very visible when your prices are visible.

If your widgets are the type of product that would warrant someone buying 2 or more in order to get free shipping (like socks etc) then I would set your free shipping threshold at $90. This will increase your average ticket price. If customers are only likely to buy 1 (like a tv or dvd player) then I would stick with the Free shipping on the single item.

- Jamie