# Free shipping over $100: average order fell from $192 to $155

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Shipping, Incentive
- Date shared: 2004-01
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/a-b-testing/shipping-charges-tested
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/me-merchant-free-shipping-over-100/

Offering free shipping on orders over $100 cut a merchant's average order from $192.17 to $154.70 during a two-week promotion. MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) reported the result in a research brief on shipping charges. It was a before/after comparison, not a split test, but the lesson is clear: the threshold sat far below what customers already spent.

## Result

**average order fell from $192 to $155**

- Average order value: $192.17 before, $154.70 during the promotion, a drop of about 19.5%.
- Orders, revenue and conversion rate were not reported, so we can't say whether more people bought.
- Verdict: a loss on average order value, measured before and after rather than in a split test.

## Control

Normal shipping charges, with an average order of $192.17.

## Variant

Free shipping on every order over $100, offered for two weeks.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- A $100 threshold was well under the typical order, so most customers already qualified and had no reason to add more.
- Shoppers who might have bought more may have aimed for just over the threshold instead.
- The brief's advice is to set the threshold a little above the average order, so it nudges people up rather than down.

## Caveats

This is a before/after comparison over a two-week promotion, not a split test, so seasonality or traffic changes could play a part. The data is from around 2004.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we set the free-shipping threshold slightly above our current average order, then average order value will rise because shoppers add a little more to qualify.
- Primary metric: Average order value
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Gross margin after shipping costs
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it: Stores with a steady average order and shipping costs that matter to margin. If your threshold would be far above most orders, it may not motivate anyone.

---

Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/me-merchant-free-shipping-over-100/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.