{"id":1845,"date":"2013-07-01T12:30:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T20:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/?p=1845"},"modified":"2013-07-02T06:43:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T14:43:16","slug":"tips-for-getting-your-zen-cart-store-ready-for-the-holidays-offer-freebies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/tips-for-getting-your-zen-cart-store-ready-for-the-holidays-offer-freebies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Getting Your Zen Cart Store Ready for the Holidays: Offer Freebies"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the holiday season less than five months away, the summer is the\u00a0best<\/em> time to get ready.<\/p>\n

If you have a Zen Cart or e-commerce store, no one needs to tell you how the holidays impact your revenue. \u00a0Making the most of your current customer base, as well as every single new visitor to your site, will maximize your profits when the holidays hit.<\/p>\n

In this series of posts throughout the month of July, Numinix is providing twelve helpful tips to help you maximize your site visitors, increase sales and revenue, make your customers happy, decrease complaints, and make your own holiday season cheerful during the process!<\/p>\n

Offer Freebies<\/em><\/h2>\n

If you’re a shopper like anyone else, the word “free” is a trigger word. \u00a0It emotionally produces excitement, and sometimes irrationally so. \u00a0You know you don’t actually need it or even want it. \u00a0But simply because it is being given away, you seem to want to take advantage of it…and get all that you possibly can. \u00a0Whether you’re in line at a buffet, or walking the aisles of a trade show, you take it because “free” means, “I may not get anymore of it later,” or “it may not be here if I decide to come back.”<\/p>\n

In the study of economics, the science of\u00a0loss aversion<\/em>\u00a0was discovered in the early 1980’s by behavioral psychologists,\u00a0\u00a0Amos Tversky<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Daniel Kahneman<\/a>. \u00a0Loss aversion basically says that it is an innate drive within humans to avoid loss rather than acquiring gain. \u00a0In other words, people are more apt to act in order to make sure they don’t lose something, rather than think twice about whether or not they are actually getting more in return. \u00a0Put another way, most customers will choose a free product even over a low-cost item even though the low-cost item was clearly a better value.<\/p>\n

In light of this psychological marketing strategy, there are two freebies your e-commerce site should consider implementing over the holidays.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Offer Free Shipping<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Numinix_Blog_Free_Shipping\"<\/p>\n

According to one study by Forrester<\/a>\u00a0on why customers abandon their shopping cart, the question was asked, “Thinking of the last time you put items in your shopping cart but did not finish the online purchase, which of the following describes why you did not complete the transaction?” \u00a035% of male online purchases and 42% of female online purchasers said that they abandoned their cart because shipping and handling costs were too high (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported on January 3, 2013 the final 2012 holiday season retail e-commerce spending totals. $42.3 billion was spent online during the entire November-December holiday shopping season, marking a 14-percent increase from 2011. The latter portion of the season saw several days with particularly strong growth, including Free Shipping Day on Monday, Dec. 17 (up 76 percent to $1.013 billion) and Christmas Day (up 36 percent to 288 million) (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Combine this hard research data with the psychological marketing strategy of e-commerce giant, Amazon. \u00a0In 199 they began offering free shipping on orders over $99 in 1999. \u00a0Today, they have proven their marketing strategy over and again through such products as\u00a0Amazon Prime<\/em>, which extends free shipping on all Amazon-fulfilled products, for one low membership price paid annually. \u00a0Obviously you can see that an e-commerce site would be most wise to offer free shipping…especially during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

How can your Zen Cart e-commerce site follow the same practice and increase your sales? \u00a0Let’s say you are a retailer in North America. \u00a0You decide to offer free shipping on a few orders. \u00a0If you offer free shipping on orders of $50 or more, your average shopper will probably spend just over $50…simply in order to not feel like they are losing a value added. \u00a0If you decide to change your policy and offer free shipping on all orders over $75, your average sale will rise to just over $80.<\/p>\n

These numbers come from an actual example from a retailer in the northwestern U.S.. \u00a0Your company can discover, like this company, and like Amazon, that people will almost always spend more money in order to get something free. \u00a0And in turn this will more than likely reduce the number of cart abandons significantly. \u00a0With this in mind you’ll want to consider a couple of valuable elements in this sales booster.<\/p>\n

First, consider carefully your purchase threshold. \u00a0You want the free shipping to be a sales booster, and not a profit-killer. \u00a0Know your numbers – the cost for your products, the profit margin you are willing to lose per item in order to make it back in volume, etc. – and make wise decisions accordingly.<\/p>\n

Second, consider using the word “Free” in the subject line of any emails you send out, understanding that spam filters may prevent it from hitting the in-boxes of some customers. \u00a0Despite \u00a0the helpful spam filters, it’s still worth considering the use of the word.<\/p>\n

Numinix offers two modules that assist you in offering free shipping with your Zen Cart platform:<\/p>\n