{"id":247003,"date":"2023-05-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/?p=247003"},"modified":"2024-05-15T16:31:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T16:31:42","slug":"how-to-offer-free-shipping-on-a-small-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/article\/how-to-offer-free-shipping-on-a-small-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Offer Free Shipping on a Small Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/267203_Blog-Free-Shipping-on-a-Small-Business-Budget.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/267203_Blog-Free-Shipping-on-a-Small-Business-Budget.jpg\" alt=\"267203_Blog-Free-Shipping-on-a-Small-Business-Budget\" class=\"wp-image-5880\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p>What would you say if we told you 68% of customers take shipping costs into account when deciding whether or not to purchase an item? That\u2019s exactly what <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.stamps.com\/ways-to-align-with-customer-expectations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our recent study<\/a> found. With more than half of customers expecting free or low shipping costs, it\u2019s worth taking into account. We understand offering free shipping might not be an option for your business year-round. However, there are ways to still meet customer expectations without breaking the bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-8.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-8-1024x791.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8245\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Offer free shipping during big holidays&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n<p>Offering free shipping during big holidays like Christmas or popular sales times like Black Friday and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.stamps.com\/how-to-provide-free-shipping-this-cyber-monday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cyber Monday<\/a> is a given. But, you might be missing out on sales by limiting free shipping promotions during the holiday season. Holidays like Valentine\u2019s Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July also include discounts and sales, so they serve as an opportune time to offer free shipping to customers. If you can\u2019t offer free shipping throughout the year, utilizing other holidays to offer free shipping is the way to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Set a minimum cart value<\/h2>\n\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen in-cart messages that show us how much more we need to spend to qualify for free shipping. If customers are close to the free shipping threshold, they\u2019ll be more likely to add a couple more items to their cart. This especially rings true during big shopping seasons. Add a minimum cart value that makes sense for your business to provide customers with a free shipping option.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Additionally, you can make free shipping available for more expensive items to give customers an added incentive to complete their purchases. In our study, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.stamps.com\/ways-to-align-with-customer-expectations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">almost 61% of customers<\/a> stated high shipping costs were the number one reason preventing their repeat business. Your business might not be able to offer free shipping on all purchases. But, your customers will appreciate the effort to incorporate free shipping where you can.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-10.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-10-1024x791.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8247\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reward repeat customers with free shipping&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n<p>Customers return to your business because they had a positive experience and like your products. Keep customers coming back through exclusive offers like free shipping. Whenever customers share photos of your products on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.stamps.com\/how-to-create-a-social-media-strategy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">social media<\/a>, ask if you can repost the content and send them discount codes for free shipping or sales on their favorite items; reward followers with giveaways that range from free products to exclusive deals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Social media isn\u2019t the only way to promote free shipping! Stamps.com merchants can customize <a href=\"https:\/\/stamps.custhelp.com\/app\/answers\/detail\/a_id\/7383\/kw\/emails\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">branded ship notification emails.<\/a> These emails allow you to personalize a tracking page to include your logo, social media links, and a promotional message to boost the visibility of any running sales. Customers will receive emails throughout the shipping process, so they can take note of any sales. Those who order from your business regularly will be the first to know about free shipping or upcoming sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-11.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-11-1024x569.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8248\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prioritize free returns&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n<p>Free returns are becoming increasingly important with customers. In fact, our study found <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.stamps.com\/ways-to-align-with-customer-expectations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">81% of customers<\/a> believe returns should always be free. Free returns and free shipping might not fall within your business\u2019s budget, so we recommend prioritizing free returns. The customer expectation around free returns is higher than free shipping, so offering free returns is crucial. As we\u2019ve mentioned, you can offer free shipping during holidays and over a certain threshold, but free returns should be accessible for every order.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-9.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stamps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-9-1024x791.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8246\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips for offering free shipping<\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Offer free shipping during holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July along with Christmas and other major holidays.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Calculate a free shipping threshold and include in-cart messaging to show customers how much more they need to spend to qualify for free shipping.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Incentivize customers with free shipping and promo codes through social media and branded ship notification emails.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Prioritize free returns over free shipping because customers have a higher expectation for online returns.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What would you say if we told you 68% of customers take shipping costs into account when deciding whether or not to purchase an item? That\u2019s exactly what our recent study found. With more than half of customers expecting free or low shipping costs, it\u2019s worth taking into account. We understand offering free shipping might [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":247004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-247003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multi-carrier","tag-support"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.1 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Offer Free Shipping on a Small Budget - Stamps.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Help keep your small business competitive within the ecommerce space! 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