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Etsy motivates sellers to offer free shipping to orders over 35 dollars

By Robyn Turk

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Retail

Etsy is making free shipping a core part of its shopping experience. The global marketplace is providing its marketplace sellers with support to make it easy for them to guarantee free shipping to U.S. shoppers.

While Etsy has not shared the specifics of its support initiatives, it said in a statement that it "will be providing sellers globally with tools and educational resources to help them adopt a free shipping guarantee for US buyers."

From studying its buyer data, Etsy learned that its buyers are much more likely to complete a purchase with an item in their cart if the item has free shipping, compared to items that have added shipping costs. The company also ran a promotion for free shipping during a limited time in May and noticed higher order values from buyers who did not have to pay for shipping.

Etsy also ran a limited-time free shipping promotion in May 2019 that led to higher order values when participating buyers purchased items that shipped for free or were eligible for free shipping.

Etsy marketplace sellers offer products across categories including fashion, jewelry and home decor. Sellers are located throughout the world and set their own pricing and shipping costs.

Sellers provide free shipping will be given priority in the marketplace

In addition to its tools and support to motivate its sellers to offer free shipping, Etsy will incentivize its sellers to offer free shipping on orders over 35 dollars by giving those items priority placement in U.S. search results.

This tactic will help consumers to more easily discover items with free shipping, as well as potentially lead to higher conversion rates for seller offering free shipping.

The company's CEO, John Silverman, explained, "Ultimately, we believe this will help increase marketplace conversion and order value, encourage repeat visits, and drive more sales for Etsy sellers."

While this free shipping initiative is specifically targeted for shoppers in the U.S., sellers from around the world are able to participate in this initiative. Etsy will begin actively marketing the initiative to its sellers beginning in September.

"Buyer expectations continue to evolve, and we want to help sellers adapt and thrive in an increasingly competitive retail landscape. Free shipping is now table stakes when it comes to online shopping," said Kruti Patel Goyal, senior vice president, product. "We realize that offering free shipping may be a big step for some of our sellers, and we will be there to support them every step of the way. We are providing numerous tools, resources, and customer support touchpoints to make it easy for them to set up a guarantee and understand how free shipping can help them reach their business goals."

Image: Etsy.com

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