From years of tracking promotions, we know that free shipping incentives have risen steadily across all consumer retail sectors. On the offline side, our MarketTrends studies show that 24% of apparel catalog campaigns included a free shipping incentive in 2009, up from 21% in 2008. Similar growth was seen in non-apparel catalogs.
For online, the story has been much the same, but the data is more telling. In addition to retail competitive activity, search data also helps us gauge consumer interest and intent with regard to free shipping. And today’s shoppers are very interested in free delivery, and more so every year.
General Searches for Free Shipping
Below is the five-year trend for searches on the term “free shipping”. While the year-end holidays are the peak season, it’s clear that such searches have grown steadily year-over-year, accelerating significantly in recession-plagued 2008 and 2009.
Google searches for “free shipping”
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Smarter Searches: Actionable Information
Searches strictly on the term “free shipping” are by far the most common, but two popular variations are “free shipping coupon” and “free shipping code.” While the search volume for the simpler “free shipping” is much higher, the “coupon” and “code” variations have seen their own dramatic rise. What’s most significant about these terms is that they show how more searchers are seeking actionable information regarding free shipping, specifically the code needed for checkout. This type of growing search sophistication is even more pronounced in the next section.