11-20-2007, 12:22 PM
Quote:Shipping has become a hot button in the e-commerce marketplace. In fact, many retailers view it as the most significant deterrent to sales because many customers abandon their purchases once the shipping charges pop up on their screens.
"Often, companies cannot calculate shipping costs until customers finish placing their orders, and many times these charges scare them off," explained Ted Vaughan, assurance partner at the tax consulting and professional services firm BDO Seidman. A poll by Harris Interactive buttressed this point: Fifty-one percent of online buyers opted for retail store purchases just to escape online shipping and handling charges, and 49 percent reduced their purchases at certain online stores because of unexpectedly high or hidden shipping charges.
Aware of the problem, companies are trying to attract gift-givers and move them from window shopping to purchasing by plastering the words "free shipping" on their wares. Such promotions do attract attention: Ninety percent of the participants in the Harris survey said free shipping would draw them to a site; this was the No. 1 enticement, followed by online discounts (69 percent), free or "no-hassle" return policies, (64 percent), free gift wrapping (27 percent) and gift certificates (24 percent)...
full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/Reeling-...60371.html