Abandoned shopping carts - 43% abandon due to postal charges - article

[Mattie]

We use opencart and you get multiple delivery options you can install,
i use the royal mail one, so it works the price out to the exact cost royal charge, so for example 1 mug is £2.48 but if a customer buys four it work it out for the weight not times £2.48 x 4 i think this is a much better system, we can also set certain products free delivery and when a cart reached a set amount it gives free delivery.

[pitkin2020]

We use opencart and you get multiple delivery options you can install,
i use the royal mail one, so it works the price out to the exact cost royal charge, so for example 1 mug is £2.48 but if a customer buys four it work it out for the weight not times £2.48 x 4 i think this is a much better system, we can also set certain products free delivery and when a cart reached a set amount it gives free delivery.

what version of opencart are you using because I can't get the royal mail extension to work with the latest version?

[Mattie]

i'm running 1.5.1 as everybody who has upgraded has had numerous problems with quite a lot of the features, i've not had any problems with 1.5.1 so don't see the point of changing.

[JSR]

We use opencart and you get multiple delivery options you can install,
i use the royal mail one, so it works the price out to the exact cost royal charge, so for example 1 mug is £2.48 but if a customer buys four it work it out for the weight not times £2.48 x 4 i think this is a much better system, we can also set certain products free delivery and when a cart reached a set amount it gives free delivery.

That's what I do with my ZenCart, but this is what the thread is about - the customer doesn't know "up front" what the postage cost will be. Hence the OP's article about shoppers abandoning their carts once they see the postage price.

I agree that doing it this way - only charging the cost that Royal Mail charges for the weight of the items - is the right way to do it because you never end up overcharging the customer, but it's this that apparently stops people from checking out.

[pitkin2020]

That's what I do with my ZenCart, but this is what the thread is about - the customer doesn't know "up front" what the postage cost will be. Hence the OP's article about shoppers abandoning their carts once they see the postage price.

I agree that doing it this way - only charging the cost that Royal Mail charges for the weight of the items - is the right way to do it because you never end up overcharging the customer, but it's this that apparently stops people from checking out.

thats why you have to couple it with a maximum postage charge i.e £5 or free P&P over £25 orders. Its also a good idea to give an average price and make it clear postage is charged by weight, a small item will be x amount a large item z amount. Its clear albeit not accurate but its a fair system as those who order more (weight wise) pay more than someone ordering 1 light item. I think the issue is if you don't cap the postage especially when they order mulitple items and the P&P heads into the double figures.

[JSR]

thats why you have to couple it with a maximum postage charge i.e £5 or free P&P over £25 orders. Its also a good idea to give an average price and make it clear postage is charged by weight, a small item will be x amount a large item z amount. Its clear albeit not accurate but its a fair system as those who order more (weight wise) pay more than someone ordering 1 light item. I think the issue is if you don't cap the postage especially when they order mulitple items and the P&P heads into the double figures.

Well, I do this anyway. Up to £30, the customer pays the Royal Mail prices of their chosen delivery option. Above £30, I subsidise the postage with a "Flat Rate" option (customer can still choose Royal Mail if they want their items quicker). The higher value the order is, the more I subsidise on the "Flat Rate" option until I make it free shipping.

But that isn't the issue. If someone's prepared to put together an order of £100+, then they're not going to be put off by postage costs anyway - even full courier price is only a fraction of the order total. Where carts are abandoned is the small items, whereby the postage option can be a half to two-thirds of the cost of the item. You attract the customer in with "photo mug for a fiver", and they run a mile when postage is over half that again - even though the combined cost of the mug plus postage might still be cheaper than the cost of a mug with free postage from elsewhere.

Not a lot you can do about it, though. There's no solution to this unless you ship enough to negotiate a low cost with a courier. It doesn't matter how much you wrap it up in "there's a maximum postage charge" or "free delivery over £x" - because neither of those things matter a hoot to someone buying one mug for their granny.

[pitkin2020]

Its hard to get the right balance I agree. It should get easier though to find a better balance as your site grows and you can start seeing what the average order is, is the average order enough to offer free postage or could you set a flat rate, per spend £10, £20, £30+ etc. Until you know what the average spend is though its hard to see how much profit is in each sale, even then it could change if the average spend dramatically drops.

I see quite a few sites do charge just a flat rate of say £3.95 / £8.95 and whilst I don't mind that I have to be spending enough to justify it, I don't want my P&P cost to be more than what I am buying lol. I have with a supplier that P&P is £8.95 regardless of what you order, then orders over £135 are free delivery. I refuse to spend less than £60 on any order or its not worth it, then if I step over £70 I go the whole hog and get the free delivery. If your dealing in bulk its not a bad way as it does encourage more spend just not very good for single low value items.

[ASLCreative]

I have found that many of the shopping carts that calculate postage prices by weight do not factor in the total value of the order as well. This is a problem if you use Royal Mail, as the value of compensation for the goods is capped at 100 x cost of a 1st class stamp. If the order exceeds that compensation level, then you need Special Delivery.

Then the problems start because if the weight of the order exceeds 2kg, the cost of Special Delivery is £22.70. To overcome this one could split the order up into several parcels and send them by 1st class post or use the Royal Mail Standard parcel service.

If you can negotiate a deal with a courier then that is the best method. Then you can just say shipping is £x. Of course with many couriers you run into inflated costs for deliveries to non mainland UK destinations. Some of the courier prices I have been quoted for delivery to Northern Ireland are very steep- £23.00 delivery charge for an order with a value of £60.

It is a shame the Royal Mail have such a complicated pricing structure.