Delivery charges can have a major impact on converting browsers to customers. Web shoppers have an almost irrational aversion to them. Research shows that, even when the prices of products represent exceptional value for money, a higher than anticipated delivery (unreasonable in the customer’s opinion) can kill a sale.

Even seemingly quite modest charges (compared with the cost of the goods) can be off-putting for web shoppers. They don’t need to be outlandish to drive shoppers elsewhere. Many online shoppers resent fundamentally paying for delivery.

With this in mind, we ran the numbers on our own delivery charges and have arrived at a better formula. One that means lower delivery costs for the vast majority of baskets.

Customers spending more than £15 on gifts will qualify for half price delivery. Meaning that UK Standard Delivery for most of our gifts and nearly all orders is now £1.97. Customers spending less than £15 will actually pay £1 more, £3.95. This increase ensures we receive adequate contribution to our pick, pack and despatch costs for these largely unprofitable orders.

We anticipate two positive contributions to gift sales:

1. Less inertia during checkout, because the delivery charge doesn’t stop and make them think “can I do better elsewhere?”.
2. Increased impetus to checkout their order promptly, because the reduction shows as a limited time offer.

This should result in more conversions for affiliates and more sales for us.

As usual, we will be monitoring the situation closely and testing numerous amendments to the store to ensure customers get the message.

Any feedback, suggestions or advice from affiliates would be greatly received. We’re here to listen as well as talk.

Cheers,

Steve