Reprinted from: E-Commerce Optimization & Marketing
----------------------------------------------------------------As many of you already know, I constantly reinforce testing being the key to much success.
Recently, I tested out several shipping methods between a number of client sites. The objective was to find out which promotion had the best impact on sales.
The benefit of my testing it across multiple sites was that I got a better sampling and thus truer picture of what really had the biggest impact on sales.
Together, these sites combined for a great sampling with a unique monthly visitor count of well over 19,000 during the two month testing period.
So, what type of shipping promotions were tested?
1. Flat rate shipping on anything ordered. “One Price. Unlimited Items.”
2. Flat rate shipping combined with “Rush / Overnight Shipping”
3. Free Shipping on orders amounts over certain amount
4. Free Shipping on everything in stock
5. Free Shipping combined with Rush / Overnight Shipping
6. Real-Time Shipping quotes from various carriers
Each of these were rotated over a weeks time across the sites.
Depending on the amount of traffic your site receives, you may need to run test longer to get a proper sampling. Generally, the more traffic you get to a site, the shorter time it takes to test and gather results. Just make sure your margin of error is large enough to warrant a “winner”.
And the winner is …Click here to read full article...
Author
