Having an amazing online shopping experience is about more than just great products and a beautiful website. People regularly forget that shipping rates play a big role in purchasing decisions for customers, and frequently we've seen how customers have to jump through hoops just to see how much shipping will cost them.
Don't believe shipping affects your customers that much? Check out these facts from Shopify and the Baynard Institute:
- 79% of shoppers say they’re more likely to shop online when free shipping is offered.
- 57% of shoppers will abandon their cart if they find the shipping costs are too high
- 21% of shoppers will abandon their cart if they don't know what the shipping costs are prior to reaching checkout
That last one's the real kicker here. Offering free shipping is obviously preferred, but if you can't then the least you can do is make sure your customers know what your shipping costs are from the beginning so you don't lose that 21%.
Let's talk about what you can do to combat this drop-off in purchases.
1. List Your Shipping Rates On The Product Page
There's no sense in making your customers hunt for shipping rates, so add a link directly on the product page to view your shipping rates. Fashion Nova has a "Shipping Information" tab on their product page that outlines all of this.
2. Introduce a Free Shipping Calculator
Let your customers easily track how much more they'll have to spend to get free shipping. This should definitely be on the Cart page (or a cart drawer, if you have that built into your theme), but it's a good idea to display this information on product pages as well. Bombas has this built into their cart drawer, and Progressive Nutracare has it built into their cart page.
3. Add a Shipping Calculator to Your Cart Page
You want to make the purchasing process as smooth as possible for your customers, so one of the worst things you can do is make them go through the checkout process just to see the shipping costs. Keep things clear and easy for them, and add a shipping calculator to your cart page so they know what shipping costs to expect before hitting "Checkout".
Progressive Nutracare has this as shown above. Not sure how to add this to your store? Shopify has a guide to add this in yourself, or you can install one of the many apps in the Shopify App Store.
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Having a smart shipping rate strategy can make the difference between an abandoned cart and a new order popping up in your inbox. By adding one, two, or all three of these suggestions, you'll create an easy, pleasant shopping experience for your customers that reduces friction and encourages conversions.