Gas Prices Make Free Shipping by Eretailers Even Hotter

July 14th, 2008

I recently received an email from outdoors clothier Roots with a subject line that definitely caught my eye: “Free Economy Shipping This Memorial Weekend”.

The imperative word in that copy was “Economy.” With gas prices this summer seemingly ready to hamper consumer spirits, it reminded me that free-shipping promos will likely be hotter than ever.

First, a free-shipping offer will trigger thoughts of being able to acquire what consumers want without filling up at the finances-sapping pump. And then, when you throw in subtle nudges like Roots did with the word “Economy,” you can really remind them that the value of free shipping on a direct order is greater than ever.

Plus, free-shipping offers have historically been popular even in friendlier economic circumstances. Quite simply, it’s believed by most marketers that they work. For instance, according to MarketingSherpa’s Ecommerce Benchmark Guide 2007, 83% of large eretail sites use free shipping or no-interest offers on their homepage.

That statistic brings us to another point: no-payments-down, no-interest offers and alternative payment solutions should also be unusually popular in the coming months. Consumers will certainly be happy to find other options to buy merchandise than pulling out their plastic cards.

Is your marketing team gearing up to make the most of a tough situation with these smart offers? Here’s the URL for the email I am talking about: http://www.roots.com/email/08%5FMay21/us/

Categories: B To B Ecommerce, Branding, Consumer Marketing, Ecommerce Eretail, Email Marketing, Offline Marketing And Advertising, Online Advertising, Online Marketing Tags: , , , ,



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