Shipping Rates and Ecommerce: How They Affect Your Sales

Shipping rates and eCommerce go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. The problem is that shipping rates are complicated and often not clearly explained. We're here to help with some simple tips for creating a solid shipping strategy so you can sell more products and grow your business!

Why Do Shipping Rates Affect E-commerce?

As a merchant, you want to keep shipping rates low so that customers will be willing to purchase more products. However, if you lower your shipping rates too much, it may negatively affect other parts of your business—like customer experience and brand perception.

To understand how this works, let's take a look at some of the most common effects of eCommerce shipping costs on customers.

- Lowered Satisfaction With Shipping Options
- Negative Word of Mouth Awareness
- Increased Customer Churn

How Do Shipping Rates Affect Customer Buying Habits?

Shipping costs can affect customer loyalty, satisfaction, and future purchases.

Let's face it: shipping is a hassle. We don't like paying for it, and we don't like waiting for our packages to arrive. As a result, many shoppers will abandon their carts if they feel the cost of shipping is too high. Research shows that nearly 50% of online consumers say they've left an item behind because of its prohibitive shipping cost (source). When you're trying to earn new customers' trust with every single purchase, you need to be careful not to break the bank on shipping costs—especially if your business' margins are already thin or competitively priced from the start.

This brings us back around to the idea that "free" often means "cheaper." If you're looking for an edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace (and who isn't?), consider what incentivizing free or low-cost shipping can do for your eCommerce sales in terms of customer loyalty and overall satisfaction rates.

What Can We Do To Help Our Customers With Shipping Costs?

Now that you know how much shipping costs can affect your bottom line, let's talk about what you can do to help your customers with their shipping costs.

• Offer free shipping. It's a no-brainer: if you want to make more sales and encourage repeat business, offering free shipping will do the job. Just be sure to make it clear that this only applies to certain amounts or products—and don't forget to include estimated delivery dates so customers know exactly when they'll receive their goods!

• Offer free returns. Another way of increasing sales is by offering a hassle-free return policy on all items; some eCommerce sites even allow for instant refunds or credits towards future purchases as an incentive for customers who might otherwise be unsure about making another purchase from the same store in the future (or because they're worried about whether or not their item will arrive intact).

• Provide flat-rate shipping. Flat rate shipping guarantees a set price per order regardless of weight or size, which means customers won't have any surprises when they see how much they've paid at checkout (and potentially walk away from purchasing altogether). This also ensures accuracy when calculating taxes and duties at customs checkpoints around the world, which helps avoid costly delays because an item wasn't declared correctly!

Conclusion

Keeping your shipping rates at an affordable level can be one of the best ways to ensure that customers stay loyal and continue to order from you. If they feel like they're getting a great deal on shipping, chances are good that they'll keep coming back for more!