Free Shipping Key to Online Shopping Satisfaction: Study
Web marketers looking to boost their customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics should strongly consider offerings free shipping and handling, according to a new consumer study.
Conversely, restrictions on free shipping offers hindered this promotion’s effectiveness in building long-term loyalty, according to The Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index, a study by ForeSee Results.
This particular promotion is quickly moving from the realm of an incentive to a cost of doing business: According to ForeSee, it is no longer a differentiator among competitors.
“Consumers expect discounts, gimmicks and other promotions during the holiday season, so when a retailer delivers on that expectation, satisfaction will increase,” said ForeSee Results president and CEO Larry Freed, in a statement.
Freed continued, “But putting restrictions on free shipping promotions has the effect of a caffeine buzz. You get short-term gains but no real long-term benefits.”
Among consumers, the biggest differences in perception between Web sites that offer unrestricted free shipping and those that don’t offer free shipping at all were in their image of the site, their likelihood to recommend the site and their overall satisfaction level.
The study also found that free shipping offers were a powerful determinant in convincing first-time buyers to place orders.
The Holiday 2006 edition of the Index was based on roughly 10,500 consumers surveyed between Nov. 28 and Dec. 19.
