Could this be another crazy scheme? We (that’s you, my customers, and me) are about to find out. Over the next three months, I’m trialling free bead shipping worldwide on orders over £30.
What will I be assessing during this trial? Basically, just one thing… will an offer like this bankrupt my business?!
What will you be assessing…?
Does this sound familiar to you…?
You’ve just got your hands on a brand new beading pattern and you can’t wait to get started. What’s the first hurdle? Finding the beads of course.
So, maybe you don’t have everything you need in your stash. Perhaps you have a local bead store (you’d be one of the lucky few if you do). So, you try there. What if they don’t have what you’re looking for?
Well, internet here we come…
Yes, you can almost certainly find just what you need somewhere online. That wonderful thing called a ‘Google search’ will return all sorts of temptation. And, best of all, you’re not restricted to your own town. You’re not even restricted to just your country.
So, how often have you found yourself staring at your screen, with the beads you need in your shopping basket then… a HUGE shipping bill. Because it turns out those beads come from a shop on the other side of the world. What do you do?
Would free bead shipping worldwide make the difference between you purchasing or not? Or, would you just bite the bullet and pay the bill anyway?
Maybe it’s not beads – it could be a kit that’s only available from that one designer… Who just happens to live on the other side of the world.
How much would free bead shipping worldwide influence you?
Now, I could have done a survey of my customers to ask this question. But did you know, survey results aren’t always to be trusted. You see, we all do it: someone asks us a question and we give the answer that seems appropriate. It’s not a lie. But it may be different from the answer we would give if you were measuring our behaviour instead of asking the question.
So, I thought I would just put this to the test. Take a look and see over the course of three months. Does an offer of free bead shipping worldwide have an impact on how customers behave?
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How do retailers cover free shipping?
Should I be letting you into trade secrets…? Why not…
You could argue that I’m lagging behind here. Lots of bead shops have been offering free shipping deals for quite a while. But (last time I checked), that doesn’t mean they’re not paying to ship goods to you. It just means they’re swallowing the cost somehow.
So, as a business owner, what do you do?
Option one: take a hit to your profits. In today’s economy, that’s maybe not a possibility. You’ve probably noticed how many bead shops are closing down. Well, the reason can be that those profits just aren’t there.
Option two: sneak up your prices on everything so you can afford the cost of shipping. Is this a good idea? Is it fair? As a consumer, do you expect to be asked to pay extra on your beading pattern so you can subsidise free shipping on another customer’s order? It’s legitimate business, so it does happen (but that’s not what I’m doing here).
Option three: set a threshold and pray! Yes, the threshold is designed as an incentive to encourage people to spend more on their order, so that will in fact cover the free shipping. Does it work? I don’t have an answer to that (yet). For myself as a customer, I can only say that sometimes the threshold does work. It depends how much I would have to pay for shipping. It also depends on how many extra items I need to buy in order to meet the threshold. So many retailers are using this policy that we all might be led to assume it’s a success.
However, as with any business decision, you need to trial and test. It’s no good assuming that something is working unless you’ve analysed the relevant data to find out.
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What do you need to do for free bead shipping worldwide?
Just spend £30 on an order that needs shipping – that’s it. This offer literally applies to you wherever you live in the world. The website will automatically set your shipping cost to zero once you have spent over £30.
I will ship at the lowest cost to me – so that’s 2nd class for orders here in the UK, International Standard for overseas orders. Both services are still great and will get your goodies to you within days, not weeks.
If you still want to be able to track an order, or you need it urgently, you can still choose to pay for your shipping, using the method that meets your needs.
How long will you get free bead shipping worldwide?
Definitely until the end of 2018. Then I shall be taking stock. So, I’ve given you a little insight into the kind of decisions any business has to make on a day-to-day basis.
Give this a try, let me know what you think and we’ll see what happens.
P.S. It’s not all about the bottom line: yes, a business has to be profitable (the business owner still has to eat and keep a roof over their head!). But that doesn’t mean customers don’t count. So, sometimes a business might choose to take a hit to their profits because they feel the benefits for their customers are worth it. Food for thought…
