Shipping charges are one of the most common barriers for customers looking to make a purchase.
According to SaveMyCent, Companies offering free shipping have a 20% higher conversion rate compared to businesses without the option
No doubt, Free shipping can be a game changer for any e-commerce business.
However, as a WooCommerce store owner, setting up free shipping can be tricky if you don’t know where to start.
Today, we will walk you through a complete step-by-step guide to WooCommerce free shipping.
At the end of this article, you’ll be able to implement the free shipping strategy to your WooCommerce store successfully.
Let’s dive in!
- What is Free Shipping?
- Why Use Free Shipping for Your WooCommerce Store?
- When Should You Implement WooCommerce Free Shipping?
- How to Set up Free Shipping in WooCommerce
- How To Add Free Shipping Over Amount?
- How To Set up Free Shipping for Specific Products?
- How To Maximize WooCommerce Free Shipping?
- Wrapping Up
What is Free Shipping?
Free shipping means when eCommerce stores offer to ship their products to customers without charging for delivery fees. The merchant covers the cost of transportation.
WooCommerce store owners leverage free shipping strategies to encourage customers to spend more.
Some popular examples include:
1. Free shipping over a minimum order value, like $50
2. Free shipping on specific products or categories
3. Free shipping to certain locations or regions
If you set up conditional WooCommerce free shipping offers, you can incentivize your customers to add more items or spend more to qualify for the free delivery. This will help you to increase average order values and overall sales.
However, some store owners avoid the free shipping strategy fearing it will cut into profits. But smart merchants add shipping costs into product pricing. The incremental revenue from higher conversions and order values offsets the shipping expenses. The key here is to create compelling free shipping offers tailored to your products, customers, and business model.
The right free shipping approach will bring you improved customer loyalty and better conversion.
Why Use Free Shipping for Your WooCommerce Store?
The success of an e-commerce business depends on new customer acquisition, retention rates, and customer loyalty.
When you offer WooCommerce free shipping, you can expect higher results on these metrics.
Let me give you an example :
Imagine two companies selling the same product at different prices.
Company 1 – 20$ + 5$ delivery charge
Company 2 – 22$ + Free Shipping.
Which company will have a higher conversion here?
The second company will drive more sales because customers always look for free deals while shopping online.
It works as a psychological trigger. Whenever a customer sees a free shipping tag, chances are higher that he will end up buying the product.
Now, let’s see why WooCommerce free shipping encourages customers to buy more:
Perceived Savings – Even if shipping costs are included in the product price, customers feel like they are getting a better deal with free delivery. This perceived discount incentivizes larger orders.
Transparency – Customers like knowing the total cost upfront. Free shipping provides price certainty without any surprise fees at checkout.
Urgency – Free shipping countdown timers or minimum spend bars create urgency to add items to qualify for free delivery.
Convenience – With free shipping, customers don’t have to compare complex delivery options. The simplified checkout experience reduces abandoning.
FOMO – Customers don’t want to miss out on the deal. FOMO (fear of missing out) compels them to increase cart sizes to qualify for free shipping.
Reciprocity – Free shipping makes customers feel valued. To return the favor, they are more likely to purchase and become repeat buyers.
Even though this is highly beneficial, you should know the right time for WooCommerce shipping configuration. Let’s see when you should implement the strategy for getting the best results.
When Should You Implement WooCommerce Free Shipping?
Free shipping is a powerful strategy to attract customers and increase sales. It should be strategically planned to get the best result unless it negatively affects profit.
While free shipping can work for many eCommerce stores, some situations tend to benefit the most:
High average order value (AOV)
WooCommerce stores where the typical order is $50+ can offer free shipping over this amount since customers frequently hit this threshold anyway. If your average order value is $50+, offer free shipping over $50. Since many customers already spend this amount, it will frequently be triggered.
Low priced items
For lower priced products, even a $5 shipping fee can seem excessive. Free shipping removes this price barrier. For a store selling ebooks for $10 each, a $5 shipping fee is excessive. Free shipping makes each purchase decision easier.
Commodity products
When selling products easily found elsewhere, free shipping gives you a competitive edge. A store selling generic phone cases should offer free shipping to compete with Amazon and other retailers who have it.
Commodity products
Bulky/heavy items
Free shipping helps offset the typically high delivery fees on large, heavy items. Free shipping helps offset the normally high delivery costs for large furniture items and exercise equipment. It makes these expensive products more appealing.
Holiday peaks
Promotional periods like Black Friday or holidays are ideal times to offer free shipping and capitalize on higher sales. Free shipping during Black Friday or holiday shopping periods capitalizes on the higher sales these events see.
New product launches
Temporarily offer free shipping when releasing your newest product line to boost initial adoption in the market. Offer free shipping for the first month of launching a new clothing line to encourage customers to try it out.
High cart abandonment
If your store has above average cart abandonment, free shipping can help recapture many of those lost sales. If your store has a 70% cart abandonment rate, free shipping can recapture many of those lost sales at checkout.
Look at your product selection, business model, and metrics like average order value to determine where free shipping will have the most impact.
Now, once you have decided to go for WooCommerce shipping configuration, it’s time to implement it. Let’s see how to set up free shipping in WooCommerce for the first time.
How to Set up Free Shipping in WooCommerce
Here is the step-by-step guide for WooCommerce free shipping setup:
Step 1: Go to WooCommerce Settings Option > Shipping > Add Zone
Step 2: Fill out the zone name and zone regions.
Step 3: Click Add Shipping Method > Select Free Shipping > Continue
Step 4: Fill Out Name > Free Shipping Requires > Select No Requirments > Continue
Click on the Add Shipping method.
Save your changes.
Only customers within the specified zone can view these items during every purchase.
How To Add Free Shipping Over Amount?
In the WooCommerce Setting, you can set up free shipping over a certain amount.
For this, you must go through all the steps mentioned for Woocommerce shipping setup; the only change is in the last step.
Let me explain :
In Step 4, select “A minimum Order Amount.” and fill out the minimum order amount > Check the “Apply minimum order rule before coupon discount” Option> Save.
That is how you can easily set free shipping over the amount.
Different requirements can be set up for free shipping. WooCommerce shipping methods provide four options.
1. N/A – No additional requirement is needed for free shipping. Users from certain areas get free shipping.
2. A valid Free shipping coupon – You can generate a coupon for free shipping. If a customer has that coupon, they can redeem it for free shipping.
3. A minimum order amount – After spending a particular amount on the shopping, the user can select free shipping. Ex: If you set free shipping for 100$, the user can choose that option after exciding that amount.
4. A minimum order amount or a Coupon – Users can select one method between free shipping from the minimum order or coupon if they are eligible for both.
5. A minimum order amount and a Coupon – This option is available if you wish to provide free delivery in exchange for a coupon code and a minimum purchase quantity from your client.
However, you must generate a promo code and meet a minimum order amount to use this option.
How To Set up Free Shipping for Specific Products?
WooCommerce shipping does not offer specific options for free shipping products.
WooCommerce shipping classes are used to categorize different types and sizes of products. For example, a mobile phone and a fridge cannot be delivered using the same mode of transportation.
To solve this problem, mobile phones can be assigned to the light shipping class, while fridges can be assigned to the heavy shipping class. After selecting products, delivery charges will automatically change.
We will set up free shipping for specific products with this shipping class.
Step1:WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping classes
Step 2: Add Shipping Classes> Fill out Details > Save
In the WooCommerce Setting, you can set up free shipping over a certain amount.
For this, you must go through all the steps mentioned for Woocommerce shipping setup; the only change is in the last step.
Let me explain :
Step 3: Go to WooCommerce Shipping > Select Shipping Zone > Click edit > Add Shipping Method
Step 4: Select Flat rate > Shipping class costs > Enter shipping cost ‘0’ for specific product class.
Step 5: Go to the specific product > Shipping > Select Shipping Class
Set up free shipping for specific products with shipping classes also has some disadvantages. High variation products shipping class setup requires much time and energy and is hard to remember. In terms of bundle products, it creates complexity to maintain shipping classes.
To make things easier and faster, WooCommerce free shipping plugins are a great savior.
How To Maximize WooCommerce Free Shipping?
The free shipping strategy is game-changing for eCommerce businesses. With proper planning and calculation, you can also benefit from this strategy.
However, if you have planned to offer free shipping, we recommend you use the StoreGrowth- Sales Booster plugin for your site.
Using this plugin, you can customize free shipping messages to attract your buyers even more.
Plus, this value will be updated in real-time and users can see how amount they require to qualify for the free shipping.
Here, you can offer :
1. Free shipping for orders over a certain amount
2. Give customers a fixed amount or percentage discount on minimum shopping amount.
3. The plugin’s customizable design means you can tailor the free shipping offer to match your branding and place the banner according to preferred display location to enhance your customers’ shopping experience.
Moreover, this plugin has modules like Direct Checkout, Quick Cart, Stock Bar, Live Sales Notification, and Floating Notification Bar to boost your store’s sales and maximize profits.
Give it a try now!
Wrapping Up
Now that you understand how WooCommerce free shipping works, you can optimize your online store’s shipping settings to provide significant incentives to your customers and keep them returning.
So don’t wait any longer – start implementing free shipping and see the positive impact on your WooCommerce Store!
Give it a try now!
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