How to Set Up Free Shipping on Shopify to Increase Sales

Imagine this: a customer fills their cart with goodies from your online store but suddenly abandons their purchase at the checkout! This is a common problem for many online businesses. High shipping costs are a significant turn-off for online shoppers, often leading to abandoned carts and lost sales. But what if you could eliminate this barrier altogether?

We’ll examine the benefits of free shipping, go over the “how-tos” of putting it up on Shopify, and provide tactics to help your business succeed in this in-depth tutorial.

Why Offer Free Shipping on Shopify?

Offering free delivery is a strong weapon in eCommerce that may affect customers’ buying decisions and make your company more competitive. Here are a few reasons why you might consider providing free shipping:

Reduce Cart Abandonment

Studies by the Baymard Institute indicate that surprise shipping costs at checkout are a significant reason for cart abandonment, with statistics showing abandonment rates as high as 70.19%. This anxiety is reduced by complimentary shipping, which encourages customers to complete their purchases without encountering surprise costs.

Outshine the Competition

Online shoppers are savvy; they compare prices and shipping costs across different stores. According to Marketing Charts, 54% of online shoppers consider shipping costs when making a purchase decision. Providing free shipping can give you a substantial advantage, particularly when your competitors impose shipping fees. In fact, 78% of consumers said that they would buy more items to get free shipping.

Promote Customer Loyalty

Offering free shipping demonstrates to customers that you value them and are willing to go the extra mile (or kilometer) to provide exceptional service. This fosters trust and appreciation, leading to repeat purchases and positive word-of-mouth marketing.

Things to Consider Before Offering Free Shipping

Although there are many advantages associated with free delivery, you may still be wondering whether or not you are able to offer free shipping or whether or not you should. Keep these factors in mind to ensure that it is in line with your business strategy:

Cost: You’ll need to factor in the cost of covering shipping expenses. Can your profit margins handle it? Carefully analyze your average order value and shipping costs to see if free shipping is sustainable for your business model.

Carrier service charges: Some carriers may charge extra service fees to ship large, heavy or bulky products, so free shipping could result in you paying more. If you want to offer your income protection, arrange conditions specifically for heavier products.

Minimum Order Value (MOV): Consider setting a minimum order value for free shipping to encourage customers to spend more. This can help offset the cost of free shipping and ensure you’re not losing money on small orders.

Impact on Average Order Value (AOV): Free shipping might incentivize smaller, more frequent orders. Is that aligned with your business goals? If you’d prefer to encourage larger purchases, you might consider offering free shipping on orders above a certain threshold.

Unlock More Sales with Free Shipping Discounts in Shopify

With Shopify, you have various options to create free shipping discounts, giving you the flexibility to tailor it to your specific needs.

Free Shipping on Everything

Go bold! Offer free shipping on everything in your store. This can be a powerful way to attract new customers and boost sales.

Important Note: Ensure your profit margins can handle this approach.

• Step 1: Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery
• Step 2: Choose the profile you want to edit.

• Step 3: Click Add rate next to the chosen zone. Give your custom rate a clear and enticing name, such as “Free Shipping” or “Discounted Expedited Shipping.”

• Step 4: Price: Enter “0.00” to create a free shipping rate.

• Step 5: Click Done to save your custom shipping rate.

Free Shipping Based on Minimum Cost

Incentives like free delivery should encourage consumers to spend more. This is a great way to increase your average order value.

• Follow steps 1-4 from Free Shipping on Everything.

• Step 5: Click Add conditions to set the criteria for triggering your free.

Based on order price: Offer free shipping only if the order value reaches a certain amount (e.g., Free Shipping over $50).

• Step 6: Click Done to save your custom shipping rate.

Free Shipping Based on Weight:

This option is ideal if your products vary significantly in weight. Free shipping for lighter items can incentivize purchases without impacting your bottom line as heavily.

• Follow steps 1-4 from Free Shipping on Everything.

• Step 5: Click Add conditions to set the criteria for triggering your free.

Based on item weight: Set free shipping thresholds based on the total order weight. (e.g., 5kg).

• Step 6: Click Done to save your custom shipping rate.

How to Generate a Free Shipping Discount Code on Shopify

Step 1: Log in to Shopify

Access your Shopify admin panel.

Step 2: Choose a free shipping discount

• Choose Discounts from the left sidebar of the Shopify Merchant Dashboard.
• Choose Create discount from the new page.
• Select Free shipping from the choices offered.

Step 3: Generate a discount code

• In the Method section, choose Discount code, give it a name or click Generate random code.

Step 4: Add the code conditions

• Under Countries, pick All countries or Selected countries.
• Choose Exclude shipping rates over a certain amount to limit the purchase amount, and add the allowed amount in the field.
• In the Minimum purchase requirements field, input the applicable minimum purchase quantity. Decide on the option for quantity discount or minimum order.

Step 5: Add a usage limit

• The use of discount codes is unrestricted. Find the Maximum discount uses area to make that modification.
• Pick Limit the number of times discount codes can be used in total and add the number of times the code can be used.
• One customer can use the code several times, and it can be used 100 times if you set the overall score to 100.
• Select Limit to one use per customer to allow customers to use the free shipping coupon only once.

Step 6: Choose the code active dates

• In the Active dates section, select the start date of the discount code.
• Click Set end date to select when the discount code expires.

• Review the options and click Save discount.

How to Turn Off Free Shipping on Shopify (or Edit It)

Step 1: Log in to Shopify

Access your Shopify admin panel.

Step 2: Manage free shipping rates

• Choose Setting from the left sidebar of the Shopify Merchant Dashboard.
• Find Shipping and delivery and choose shipping profile you want to delete or edit.
• Under Shipping origins, click on the “…” icon and select Edit rate if you want to make changes or Delete if you want to delete it.

Discover the Best Apps to Boost Free Shipping on Your Shopify Online Store

Enhance your free shipping offers with the help of various Shopify apps for effective promotion and display. These apps often include eye-catching visuals and progress bars to incentivize customers to reach the free shipping threshold. Here are a few popular options to consider, along with their key features:

Flair product badges and labels

Launch date: July 10, 2017

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: The pricing for Flair Product Badges + Labels starts from $29/month. They offer three plans:

• Buzz at $29/month.
• Boost at $49/month.
• Grow at $99/month.

Main Features:

• Elevate your sales using striking product badges, labels, stickers, banners, and countdown timers.
• Enhance any promotional activity - Pre-Order, New Arrival, Limited Time Offer, Exclusive Deal, Best Seller, and more.
• Automate the process based on Collection, Product Tag, Stock Level, Variants, Metafields, and beyond.
• Compatible with all Shopify themes, Shopify Markets, and Shopify’s B2B wholesale platform.

Support: They provide 24/7 customer service with a 5-star rating. The customer support team, especially Tom and Adam, are highly praised for their quick responses and problem-solving abilities. They also provide a complimentary setup.

All-in-One Discount on Cart

Launch Date: January 20, 2021

User Rating: 4.9/5

Price: The pricing for All-In-One Discount app is based on your Shopify Plan. They offer four plans:

• Development Store: Free.
• Basic Shopify: $9.99/month.
• Shopify: $14.99/month.
• Advanced Shopify: $24.99/month.

Highlight Features:

• It offers automatic discounts like quantity breaks, BOGO, free gifts, and many more promotions.
• Enables store owners to effortlessly establish and oversee offers and tailor-make combinations of offers that best suit their store.
• Provides valuable insights into their discount performance and unlocks a broader customer base.

Support: The app’s features include quick customer assistance through live chat, smooth integration with Shopify, and support for many currencies.

### Hextom: Free Shipping Bar

Launch Date: September 16, 2015

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: Hextom offers a Free Basic Plan and a Premium Plan, which costs $9.99/month or $99/year.

Highlight Features:

• Showcases incremental messages as customers add more items to their shopping carts.
• Fully adaptable with sophisticated targeting options such as geo-location, customer type, page, and more.
• Includes a scheduling feature allowing for advanced free shipping planning for events like Black Friday.
• Automatically recognizes visitors’ local currencies and adjusts the free shipping amount accordingly.

Support: The app provides detailed instructions on how to create or edit a Free Shipping Bar. It also supports automatic detection and conversion of free shipping amounts to local currencies.

Essential Free Shipping Bar

Launch Date: June 3, 2022

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: The Essential Free Shipping Bar offers a free plan. There are also several paid plans available:

• Starter: $6.99/month.
• Essential: $9.99/month.
• Professional: $29.99/month.

Highlight Features:

• Placed Anywhere: product page, cart page, cart drawer, or as an announcement bar.
• Boosts Average Order Value: sell more by adding product upsells & cross-sells.
• Revenue-Oriented: track precisely how much additional revenue you generate.
• Highly Customisable: customize cart goal progress bar or use pre-made styles.
• Extras: translations, different currencies and Online Store 2.0 themes support.

Support: The support team, particularly Zydrunas and Samuel, are praised for their efficient customer service. The app is easy to install and set up. It also supports multiple locales.

Remember: When using free shipping bar apps, ensure they integrate seamlessly with your Shopify theme and overall website design for a cohesive customer experience. Try out a few applications until you discover the one that works for you and fits your company’s aesthetic.

How to Cover Free Shipping Rates

Offering free shipping can be a powerful tool, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Here are some additional strategies to maximize its impact, including how to cover the cost of free shipping effectively:

Roll Shipping Costs Into Product Pricing

Carefully analyze your average product cost, current profit margins, and typical shipping expenses. You can then strategically increase product prices slightly to absorb the cost of free shipping. This approach ensures you remain profitable while offering a valuable perk to your customers.

Optimize Packaging

Every inch of space counts! Consider optimizing your packaging to minimize box sizes and weights for greater efficiency and cost savings. This can lead to significant cost savings on shipping, especially for lighter items. Consider using eco-friendly, lightweight packaging materials whenever possible.

Try Using Different Delivery Service Providers

Don’t be afraid to shop around! Compare rates and services offered by different shipping carriers. You might find a provider offering more competitive rates for your parcel weights and shipping zones. Negotiate bulk shipping discounts with carriers if your order volume allows.

Utilize Fulfilment Services

Fulfillment services can handle your online store’s storage, packaging, and shipping. While there are associated costs, fulfillment services can streamline your operations and potentially reduce your overall shipping expenses through their economies of scale and negotiated rates with carriers.

Proposing Free Shipping as a Promotional Strategy

You might want to consider providing free shipping for certain sales events or promotional campaigns. This strategy can instill a sense of immediacy and motivate customers to make purchases during these time-sensitive deals.

Alternative Options to Free Shipping

Flat Shipping Rates

Flat Shopify Shipping Rates are a specific amount customers pay for shipping at checkout. You can set flat shipping rates for any order within a shipping zone or only for orders whose weight or price is within a specific range.

For instance, if you have a shipping zone for Asia, you might establish a flat rate of $15. Additionally, for orders exceeding $300, you could offer a reduced flat rate of $10. Alternatively, if you’re using weight-based rates, you could set a flat shipping rate of $20 for orders weighing less than 10 kg and a flat rate of $30 for orders weighing more than 10 kg.

This approach simplifies the shipping fee process and provides a transparent fee structure for customers.

Calculated Shipping Rates

Calculated rates consider an order’s weight and/or price to determine the shipping cost. This is a good option for heavier products or when you want to offer more accurate shipping costs to your customers. However, setting up calculated shipping rates can involve more steps and potentially require third-party carrier integrations.

Depending on your store’s Shopify subscription plan and the order you’re shipping, you might be eligible for discounted shipping rates from Shopify Shipping carriers. You can calculate and preview your discounted Shopify Shipping rates using the Shopify Shipping Calculator.

For example, the maximum discount available by carrier for 2022 is up to 88.5% for USPS Domestic shipping, up to 69.81% for UPS Domestic shipping, up to 76% for DHL International shipping, and up to 64% for Canada Post International shipping.

FAQs

How Can I Add a Shopify Free Shipping Bar?

Here are the steps to add a free shipping bar app on your Shopify store:

• Step 1: Go to the Shopify App Store.
• Step 2: Search for the Free Shipping Bar app.
• Step 3: Click on the app and then click Install and it will automatically added to your Shopify store.

Who Pays for Shipping on Shopify?

By default, the customer pays for shipping on Shopify unless you offer a free shipping promotion or discount. You can set up free shipping based on various criteria like order value, weight, or specific product categories.

How Can Shopify Store Owners Secure Low-cost Shipping Rates?

• Negotiate with Carriers: If your order volume is high, you can negotiate bulk shipping discounts with major carriers like UPS, FedEx, or USPS.
• Compare Shipping Providers: Don’t limit yourself to one carrier. Compare rates and services different providers offer to find the most cost-effective option for your parcel weights and shipping zones.
• Utilize Regional Shipping Services: For regional deliveries, consider using regional shipping carriers that might offer more competitive rates than national carriers.
• Fulfillment Services: While there are associated fees, fulfillment services can offer discounted shipping rates due to their economies of scale and negotiated contracts with carriers.

Conclusion

In the competitive world of e-commerce, offering free shipping can be a game-changer. It eliminates a major customer hurdle at checkout, leading to increased sales, happier customers, and a thriving online store. By following the strategies outlined in this guide, you can leverage the power of free shipping on Shopify. From setting up different free shipping options to implementing cost-saving tactics, you’ll be well-equipped to make free shipping work for your business.