Free shipping has become the white whale that online customers chase—but unlike the famous white whale, free shipping is often attainable for them. Amazon Prime set the bar, and now, more and more ecommerce retailers are offering some kind of option to alleviate the problem of losing customers when you tack on shipping and handling fees. The shipping price, which is rarely in your control even with some kind of deal with a parcel company, can make a customer abandon his or her shopping cart entirely.

But free shipping is difficult to offer, especially if you’re a smaller retailer and can’t absorb those costs. We’ll look at a number of ways businesses have been able to combat free shipping by compromising and offering their customers other deals.  

Free Shipping with Minimum Amount Purchased

One of the best ways to compromise with consumers is to create a minimum requirement for free shipping. That means the consumer would have to purchase, say, $50 before they could have free shipping on the items. This increases the chances that the consumer will spend more money, and, while increasing your profits, it helps alleviate the cost of shipping and handling. Most consumers will agree that this is a fair agreement with the retailer.

Competition for Payment Networks

A rising trend among payment networks is to offer free shipping. Credit card companies and online payment systems recognize that consumers use their networks for online shopping, more and more. So, to stay competitive, companies like Visa and MasterCard and PayPal offer either limited time or unlimited free shipping when consumers use their cards or payment systems. Currently big box retailers like Best Buy and Macy’s are using this system, but it’s an option for any retailer that’s interested. For consumers, it means registering to take advantage of an offer through Mastercard’s site, or simply claiming a deal through Visa’s website To get involved, retailers should contact the card company.

Including Shipping Charges in Price

The situation that you’re trying to avoid with the consumer is when they arrive to the cart and the price increases due to shipping and handling. The consumer feels betrayed, as if you didn’t include all the information you should have, and they’re unlikely to return to your site in the future. Rather than dumping on this extra charge, it’s more reliable to include the shipping and handling price in the posted price. Sure, some consumers might compare prices and see that your price is more expensive than the listed price of your competitor, but the customer will get the truth from the beginning.

Developing Cheaper Shipping Solutions

While free shipping can be difficult or impossible for many small retailers, they do have the option of looking to partner with distributors and shipping companies to alleviate some of the shipping costs. This can mean paired packaging, distribution hubs and warehouses, getting reduced costs for bulk orders. There are creative ways to lower the shipping price on your orders so that you can advertise free shipping while only taking a minor financial hit.

Freight Analysis

With historical sales and shipping data, a retailer can analyze outbound shipments to determine the best distribution model for them. For example, a centralized model may be best for some retailers, and the analysis can tell you where you should be shipping from. For others, a multi-center fulfillment model is best. Ultimately, retailers should be locating their distribution center(s) in an area that saves them the most on outbound shipping costs. Of course, that also requires factoring in how much it costs to get the product to that location. If there’s an opportunity to save money, it should far exceed the incremental increase in inbound freight costs.