Why Free Shipping Beats Every Other Promo Lever

Shabir Malik 3 min readJune 10, 2024

Psychology beats math

$10 off an $80 order tests worse than free shipping on the same order. Even though the customer pays more in the 'free shipping' scenario sometimes.

Free shipping over $X lifts AOV 15-30%. A powerful nudge that converts low-value carts into mid-value ones.

Ultra-low-margin products where shipping is a real chunk of margin. Then a percentage discount or tiered shipping is better.

A pragmatic ranking of AOV-boosting tactics — what works for DTC brands doing $1M–$20M.

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Our team ships ecommerce programs every week. Book a free consult — we'll tell you what would move the needle for your brand.