ShipStation has published a Holiday Prep eBook for online sellers on how to make the most of the holiday shopping season when it comes to efficient shipping and boosting conversion rates.
The lowest prices won’t be enough to attract customers if shipping inflates cost too much, which can lead to cart abandonment, according to a company spokesperson.
The ShipStation Holiday Prep eBook offers advice for sellers including the following:
- Offering free and fast shipping: 76% of consumers say free shipping is the most important shipping aspect of a purchase. Most consumers expect it with purchases of $50 and above.
- The importance of a mobile interface: of the record $7.9B spent on Cyber Monday in 2018, $2B was from mobile devices. Capitalizing on this growing trend of mobile optimization is important during the busy holiday season, as most people are traveling during the holidays.
- Offering live chat options: If a customer has hesitations about a product, the quicker they find reassurance, the more likely they are to commit to buying. Online chat rooms have a 92% customer satisfaction rating as their preferred way to connect.
The full guide is available for download on this page of the ShipStation website.
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
