Documentation

Discount shipping in Composable Commerce

Learn how to implement shipping discounts in Composable Commerce.

After completing this page, you should be able to:

  • Identify the available options to apply shipping discounts in Composable Commerce.
  • Implement shipping discounts in the Merchant Center using the Free above and Cart Discounts approaches.

Shipping costs and discounts play a crucial role in customer decision-making and the overall performance of your commerce solution. An effective shipping discount strategy can help your business:

  • Increase Average Order Value (AOV): Research shows that 80% of customers are willing to meet the minimum purchase threshold for free shipping.
  • Reduce Cart abandonment: The Baymard Institute found that 55% of customers abandon their carts due to shipping costs. By offering discounted or free shipping, you can help combat cart abandonment.
  • Reduce operational load: Research by Dotcom Distribution found that 60% of shoppers will wait for an extra period of time to get free shipping, which can help manage logistics and inventory more efficiently.

By understanding the impact of shipping discounts on customer behavior and commerce performance, you can leverage these strategies to drive growth in your commerce business.

Free above vs. Cart Discounts

Composable Commerce offers two ways to apply shipping discounts:

  • Free above: this option is defined at the Shipping Method level. Each Shipping Method can have a unique threshold amount after which free shipping will be applied. This is useful when you have multiple Shipping Methods with different cost structures. For example, if you have Shipping Methods for Standard and Express shipping, you can define a higher threshold amount for Express shipping since the costs are higher. The Free above option is only available with fixed shipping rates.
  • Cart Discounts that target shipping: this option uses Cart Discounts that are targeted at shipping costs. Using predicates with this discount option allows you to target specific Shipping Methods and specify different shipping discount levels based on criteria like Customer Group, Cart value, or Line Items, to name a few. Cart Discounts that target shipping costs work for fixed and tiered shipping rates.

You should use either the Free above or the Cart Discount option, but not both at the same time. Using both makes it difficult to anticipate and understand how and which discount will be applied.

In the following sections, we will explore different scenarios to demonstrate how to set up and use each of these approaches to apply shipping discounts based on a Cart's total value.

Scenario 1: Offer free shipping based on the total value of the Cart

In this scenario, we will explore how GreenLeaf Furnishings, a leader in eco-friendly home furniture in the US market, plans to offer free shipping on their delivery options.

GreenLeaf Furnishings will offer free standard shipping for Carts exceeding $100. The normal shipping price is $20. At this stage, GreenLeaf Furnishings only wants to support a single shipping method and a single delivery address for the Cart.

Based on those requirements, both shipping discount options can be used to fulfill GreenLeaf Furnishings’ shipping discount strategy. Let’s start by exploring how GreenLeaf Furnishings can set up their shipping discount requirements using the Free above and Cart Discounts methods.

Use Free Above

Let’s start by creating the Shipping Method:

  1. In the Merchant Center, navigate to Project Settings > Shipping methods.
  2. Click Add shipping method to add a new Shipping Method.
  3. For Shipping method name, enter Standard Delivery (US). The name you use here will be shown in the Shipping Method list.
  4. Assign a Tax category relevant to your products and regions.
  5. Add a Zone that defines where this method applies. For example: United States (US).
  6. Set the fixed shipping rate to $20.
  7. Set the Free above value to $100.
  8. Click Create shipping method to save your changes.

This Shipping Method is now available for Carts with a US delivery address. The shipping cost will be calculated based on the customer's selected Shipping Method and the total Cart value:

  • If Standard Delivery is selected and the Cart total is below $100, the shipping cost will be $20.
  • If Standard Delivery is selected and the Cart total is above $100, the shipping cost will be $0.

Use Cart Discounts

Before you create the Cart Discount targeting shipping, go to Project Settings > Shipping Methods and remove the Free above value from each Shipping Method.
Now, let’s implement the same strategy using Cart Discounts. For more details on Cart Discounts, please refer to the Cart Discounts module in this learning path.
  1. From the Merchant Center main menu, navigate to Discounts > Cart discount list.
  2. Click Add cart discount to add a new Cart Discount:
    • For Cart discount name, enter Free Standard Shipping Discount.
    • Provide a Rank (sortOrder) value.

      The Rank (sortOrder) determines the order that discounts will be applied. Because Cart Discounts targeting shipping are Cart Discounts, the Rank (sortOrder) of your shipping discount will decide when it will be applied relative to other discounts in your Cart. Without some prior planning, the rank can cause unintended discount management outcomes.

      For more information on how to choose a Rank (sortOrder) value, see Rank Discounts and Ranking and stacking.

      We highly recommend investing some time to decide on a ranking strategy during the planning phase of your project.

  3. Within the Apply these discount effects section of the page, choose Shipping.
  4. For Discount type select Percentage off.
  5. Set the Discount value to 100.
  6. Within the Under these cart conditions section of the page, select Apply to specific carts.
  7. Set the predicate condition: Cart Total is equal to or greater than 100.00 USD.
  8. Click + AND condition to add another condition.
  9. Set the predicate condition: Shipping Method Name is Standard Delivery (US).
  10. Click Save.

  11. Switch the activation toggle to ON to activate the discount.

We have now created and activated a Cart Discount targeting shipping for the standard delivery option on Carts that are equal to or greater than 100 USD. In our example, we used the shipping method name as a predicate, however, in production projects, we recommend using either the Shipping Method id or key.

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