*This blog originally appeared on ebayinc.com
Shipping speed and cost are key factors influencing buyers’ purchasing decisions. A transparent and easily understandable shipping signal is a strong conversion driver that makes shopping easier for buyers, improves sales velocity for sellers and builds trust in the marketplace.
Over the past decade, eBay’s Fast ’N Free shipping indicator has been worn as a badge of honor by our sellers and has served millions of buyers globally. As buyer expectations and retail standards continue to evolve, our buyer experience teams have sought opportunities to innovate and simplify the shopping experience. We conducted research, focus groups and A/B testing to enhance our shipping signals, and our recently launched “Free x day shipping” badge has improved conversion for sellers while making it easier for buyers to understand the shipping speed and cost at a glance in the purchase funnel.
The Experience
The “Free x day shipping” badge (where x is the end-to-end delivery estimate in days) simplifies how eBay highlights shipping speed and cost. This change removes the ambiguity of “Fast ’N Free.” The transparency of “Free 2 day shipping” or “Free 3 day shipping” helps customers know when to expect their delivery and makes it easy to compare similar listings’ value proposition with shipping from different sellers.
This prominent display of shipping speed also incentivizes sellers to offer faster service. eBay’s retail standards threshold is four days in the U.S. and three days in the U.K. and Germany. Since the listing clearly states the number of days it will take for buyers to receive their items (unlike the ambiguous Fast ’N Free badge), sellers who offer faster shipping enjoy the highlight and it motivates them to offer the quickest possible shipping to keep their listings competitive in the modern world.
Creating Opportunities for Additional Innovation
With eBay Shipping Signals, we’re opening the door for more creative ways to enhance the customer experience. The flexibility of this new shipping signals backend framework will enable us to be more nimble, including testing and launching new experiences more quickly. For example, “Free Shipping – Arrives Before the Fourth of July” or “Arrives before Father’s Day” and other tailored notifications will continue to improve conversion due to clarity and buyer preference of faster deliveries. Our overarching goal is to quickly connect buyers with the items they want, making their eBay experience as simple and seamless as possible.
The new shipping signals are live in the U.S., U.K. and Germany, and all global regions will soon follow. Learn more about how eBay is simplifying the shipping experience with QR codes for shipping labels and secure local pickup for nearby transactions.