Merchandise shippers are going with the flow and have stopped charging their customers for shipping and handling, according to survey results from MCM Outlook 2012-13.
According to the MCM Outlook 2011 Operations & Fulfillment survey results, no shipper said they didn’t charge customers shipping and handling fees. But in our most recent survey, conducted in April and May of this year, 11.1% of survey respondents said their customers are not charged for shipping and handling.
Broken down by category, 11.9% of respondents that identified themselves as primarily business-to-consumer sellers said they do not charge for shipping and handling. Just 9.1% of respondents that said they are primarily business-to-business shippers said they don’t charge for shipping and handling.
Last year, 34.8% of respondents said they charged shipping and handling fees based on the total value of the order. That number dropped to 28.6% this year.
MCM Outlook 2012-13 also shows that 34.9% of respondents base shipping and handling fees on order weight and delivery distance. That’s up from 25.8% in 2011.
Exactly 50% of b-to-b respondents said they base shipping and handling fees on weight and delivery distance.
The full MCM Outlook 2012-13 Operations & Fulfillment research report will be available for download later this year. You can click here and register to receive the research report as soon as we publish it.