Shipping Methods for Year-End Inventory Clearance | ShipTime

Shipping methods, when implemented correctly, can effectively move your year-end inventory. And if you’re holding much more stockpile than you’d hoped after the shopping season, this could be your chance to finish 2019 strong.

Shipping Methods & Moving Inventory

The shopping season has come and gone and you have more inventory than you want collecting dust. Don’t panic; strategize with a few tips from our experts:

• Free Shipping- When your audience is ready to checkout, nothing repels them more than shipping costs. The leading cause of cart abandonment, the psychology behind shipping costs stems from sticker shock. Before advertising free shipping, you have to find a balance between profitability and incentive.
• Free Shipping Minimums- Require your customers to meet minimum purchasing requirements. Striking the balance for profitable minimums starts and ends with volume requirements. Setting minimum thresholds to drive volume minimums will hedge against your shipping costs. Meanwhile, a healthy profit margin will absorb free shipping costs.
• Third-Party Shipping- Not only do third party shipping providers find you the best rates, but they also automate the process for a seamless experience. So third party shipping options not only make your business more affordable for your customers, but they also allow you to easily offer free shipping.
• BOGO- While minimums are a great way to get your stagnant product moving, nothing gets inventory out the door quite like “giving it away.” Of course, you don’t give away anything– you strategically price it so you make a profit on 2 or more items from your inventory. Including a promotional giveaway like a t-shirt or a fridge magnet also attracts business.
• Promo Codes- This approach requires a bit more planning. If you offer your customers a coupon code effective only after a certain date– ideally well into your slow season– you’re sure to see some return. This is appealing to 2 very important marketing components– you’re targeting your existing audience and you’re discounting your merchandise.

The Facts & Figures

According to PracticalEcommerce.com, “36% of online shoppers do not make a purchase online unless free shipping is offered… [while] another 42% of online shoppers said that free shipping was “somewhat important,” and actively sought out free shipping deals.” And this is only amplified during the holiday shopping season.

“58% of shoppers will add items to their cart to qualify for free shipping if they reach a certain dollar amount,” according to A Better Lemonade Stand. “Shipping [costs come with] doing business online… This is partly why this “extra fee” is one that customers despise. Additionally, unexpected fees at the time of checkout scare off more than half of potential customers…"

Moreover, be sure to A/B test all your promotions. This lets you fine-tune any minimums to determine the best thresholds. And if they’re responding well, you may want to adjust for a higher threshold to turn more of a profit. Likewise, you may want to decrease the minimum order value if you aren’t seeing much success.

When weighing your shipping strategy options, make sure you’re partnering with the right shipping service. ShipTime lets you enter box dimensions and package weight for an accurate rate quote. Aggregating data to find you the best shipping rates available, the ShipTime search engine finds you the best possible shipping rates. Meanwhile, the ShipTime dashboard speeds your shipping quote with predefined box sizes. It also provides predefined incentive rewards with a “My Pickups” functionality to track scheduled pickups and times.

Learn more here.