QUICK TIP: How to Offer Free Shipping

You’ve most likely purchased something online with a free shipping offer, and maybe even the free shipping offer is what made you complete that purchase.

I’m sure you’ve read reports about how offering free shipping can increase your sales orders, and now you’re ready to give free shipping a try with your store!

With Shopify, there are two basic ways to offer free shipping. In this article, I’ll cover both methods and will include the pros and cons of each, including some quick tips to help you. Ready to get started?

Free Shipping With a Discount Code

ADVANTAGE:
Shopify stores are set up to allow only one discount code at a time. Therefore, when you use a free shipping discount code, a customer will not be able to use any other discount codes you might have, which ultimately saves you money.

DISADVANTAGE:
With a free shipping discount code, you cannot specify a weight limit for free shipping.

Set Up a Free Shipping Discount Code

1. From your Shopify Dashboard, click Discounts
2. Click the Create Discount button
3. In the Discount Code text box, enter a name for the discount code (for example, freeshipping)
   
4. In the Options section, use the drop-down menu to select the Free Shipping discount type
   
5. Click the checkbox for This discount requires a minimum purchase if you want to set a minimum, then specify the minimum
6. In the Countries section, choose the countries you want the discount to apply to
   
7. In the Customer Eligibility section, choose who the discount applies to – Everyone, Specific Groups of Customers or Specific Customers
   You can use the search field to choose customers.
   
   
8. In the Usage Limits section, choose the option you want to use – Limit number of times this discount can be used in total or Limit to one per customer
   
   
9. In the Active Dates section, choose the date(s) you want the discount to be available
   
10. Click Save Discount when you are done

For more details on how to offer free shipping using this discount code method, visit the Free Shipping Discount Help Page on Shopify.

Free Shipping With a Rate Zone

ADVANTAGE:
This method of free shipping is automatic. When a customer reaches either the minimum dollar amount specified, or the minimum order weight specified, free shipping is automatically applied to their shopping cart (no need to enter a discount code).

DISADVANTAGE:
Since this method automatically applies free shipping based on dollar amount or weight versus the customer having to enter a discount code, the customer will be able to enter a discount code in addition to getting free shipping, which ultimately will cost you more money.

Set Up Free Shipping Over a Set Dollar Amount or Over a Set Weight

1. From your Shopify Dashboard, click Settings and then click Shipping
2. Click Edit next to the zone where you want to offer free shipping
   
3. For free shipping over a set dollar amount – in the Price based rates section click Add Rate, or for free shipping over a set weight – in the Weight based rates section click Add Rate
   
   
4. In the Add price based rate window, or the Add weight based rate window (whichever you selected in step 3), enter a Name for the shipping rate, then set a Minimum order price (you can also specify a Maximum order price if you would like), or for weight based enter a Minimum order weight (you can also specify a Maximum order weight)
   
   

   
5. Click the checkbox for Free shipping rate to turn that on
6. Click Done to save this setting
   Eligible customers will see this free shipping rate applied automatically at checkout.

For more details on how to offer free shipping using this method, visit the Free Shipping Help Page on Shopify.

• As you can see, you can use either method – just choose the method that works best for your store for the type of promotion you are running.
• I recommend trying both methods (at different times) to see if one of the methods works better for you.
• Make sure you promote your free shipping offer so your customers know about it! You can promote on social media, in your email marketing campaigns, or even directly on your store.
• For promoting free shipping on your store, you could include your offer in a slider on your home page, in a text banner, or directly on collection pages or product pages – the choice is yours. If you want to promote your offer with a header at the very top of your website, I recommend using an app, such as the Free Shipping Bar by Hextom or Free Pop-up by Justuno.

If you have any questions or comments, please use the space below and I’ll be happy to respond.