<p>悉尼：你正在浏览一个在线零售商，比如亚马逊、Shein 或 eBay，看到一件售价 40 美元的衬衫正在打折。你把它加入购物车，但在结账时，突然出现了 10 美元的运费。感到沮丧的你关闭了标签页。但如果那件衬衫的价格是 50 美元，并且有 “免费” 送货呢？你毫不犹豫地购买它的可能性就会大大增加。COVID-19 改变了我们的购物方式，加速了我们对电子商务的依赖。但随着在线销售的增长，消费者对免费送货的期望也随之增加。然而，现实是，运输实物商品从来不是免费的。零售商使用微妙的营销策略和心理技巧来掩盖这些成本。因此，消费者往往是承担费用的一方。零的魔力 “免费” 这一概念有着独特的吸引力。在行为经济学中，零不仅仅是一个较低的价格；它触动了心理开关。当交易涉及成本时，我们本能地权衡其负面影响。但当某样东西完全免费时，我们会体验到积极的情绪，并将该优惠视为比数学上更有价值。零售商无疑意识到，提供免费送货是阻止消费者放弃数字购物车的最有效方式之一。最低消费陷阱 也许最常见的营销策略是免费送货门槛。有时这被表述为 “消费 55 美元即可获得免费送货”。如果你的购物车里只有 40 美元，你就面临一个困境。你可以支付 10 美元的邮费，或者找到一件 15 美元的商品以达到门槛。我们中的许多人选择后者，认为获得一件实物产品，比如一双袜子，总比 “浪费” 钱在运费上要好。这一策略利用了 “目标梯度效应”，即我们越接近目标，就越倾向于付出更多的努力。对于零售商来说，这一策略也非常有效。研究表明，免费送货增加了购买频率和整体订单规模。设定免费送货门槛的政策通常会促使这种 “补充消费” 行为。消费者最终购买了他们最初并不想要的东西，从而提升了零售商的销售额。内嵌成本与 “免费” 退货的现实 另一种策略是无条件免费送货，即将运费直接包含在产品的基础价格中。这使消费者能够避免在结账时支付单独费用的 “支付痛苦”。然而，我们仍然通过更高的商品成本支付邮费。对于零售商来说，提供无条件免费送货而不加价是很难盈利的。销售的增长通常无法抵消失去的费用收入和履行成本。这种缺乏盈利能力的主要原因是，免费送货导致产品退货率显著提高。当免除费用的外观降低了交易的财务风险时，消费者往往会进行更冒险的购买。例如，你可能会订购同一件衬衫的两种不同尺码，知道你可以免费退回其中一件。谁为这种额外的便利付费？零售商，现在必须承担两次的快递费用。零售商通常不会简单地吸收这笔费用，而是必须以其他方式转嫁。订阅幻觉 为了应对这些不可预测的成本，许多企业转向会员、忠诚度或订阅模式，如亚马逊 Prime。消费者支付一笔预付的年费，以换取全年 “免费” 的加急送货。基于会员的程序成功地提高了客户忠诚度和购买频率，并允许更好的客户细分。但从长远来看，这可能实际上会损害零售商的利润率。尽管忠诚度上升，但履行许多较小的、免费送货订单的运营成本如果管理不当，可能会超过其带来的好处。对于消费者来说，这一模式操控了我们的 “心理账户”。因为我们将预付费用视为已经支出的资金，每次额外购买都感觉像是附带了一个免费福利。我们最终在那个特定平台上更频繁地购物，只是为了 “物有所值”。不要被幻觉所迷惑 无限免费送货的时代可能即将结束。随着全球供应链成本保持波动，我们可能会看到零售商提高最低消费门槛、取消优惠或提高基础产品价格以进行补偿。下次你在线购物时，抵制即时满足的冲动。如果你正准备将一双 15 美元的趣味鳄梨袜加入购物车，只是为了节省 10 美元的运费，稍微停下来。问问自己，你真的需要这件商品在本周到达吗？不要急于结账，让你的数字购物篮随着时间的推移自然填满你真正需要的物品。你最终会达到门槛，但是在你自己的条件下。“免费” 送货只是一个巧妙的心理幻觉。成本很少被消除；它只是重新分配到更高的产品价格中，或被重新框定为忠诚度福利。不要让 “免费” 送货的诱惑让你支付超过你原本打算的费用。阿德里安·R·卡米利里是悉尼科技大学市场营销副教授。本文首次出现在《对话》上。</p>

SUPL

线上零售 ETF - Amplify

在线零售 ETF - ProShares

<p>这篇文章讨论了零售商用来营造 “免费” 运输幻觉的营销策略，这往往导致消费者花费更多。文章强调了诸如免费运输门槛和无条件免费运输等策略，这些策略旨在增加购买频率和订单规模。文章还提到，像亚马逊 Prime 这样的订阅模式对消费者行为和零售商盈利能力的影响。随着供应链成本的上升，零售商可能需要调整他们的运输政策，促使消费者重新考虑因感知到的运输节省而产生的冲动购买</p>

<p>SYDNEY: You’re scrolling through an online retailer, like Amazon, Shein or eBay, and spot a shirt on sale for $40. You add it to your cart, but at checkout, a $10 shipping fee suddenly appears. Frustrated, you close the tab. But what if that same shirt was priced at $50 with “free” shipping? The likelihood that you would have bought it without a second thought is much higher. COVID-19 changed the way we shop and accelerated our reliance on e-commerce. But as online sales have grown, so has the expectation of free delivery. The reality, however, is that shipping physical goods is never actually free. Retailers use subtle marketing strategies and psychological hacks to mask these costs. As a result, consumers are often the ones footing the bill. THE MAGIC OF ZERO There is something uniquely attractive about the concept “free”. In behavioural economics, zero is not just a lower price; it flips a psychological switch. When a transaction involves a cost, we instinctively weigh the downside. But when something is entirely free, we experience a positive emotion and perceive the offer as more valuable than it is mathematically. Retailers no doubt realise that offering free delivery is one of the most effective ways to stop a consumer from abandoning a digital shopping cart.THE MINIMUM SPEND TRAP Perhaps the most common marketing tactic is the free shipping threshold. Sometimes this is phrased as “spend $55 to qualify for free shipping”. If your shopping cart is sitting at $40, you face a dilemma. You can pay $10 for postage, or you can find a $15 item to reach the threshold. Many of us choose the latter, reasoning it is better to get a tangible product, such as a pair of socks, than to “waste” money on shipping. This tactic uses the “goal gradient effect”, which describes the tendency to put in more effort the closer we get to a goal. It also works incredibly well for the retailer. Research shows that free shipping increases both purchase frequency and overall order size. Policies with a threshold for free shipping often prompt this exact “topping up” behaviour. The consumer ends up buying things they did not initially want, thus boosting the retailer’s sales. BAKED-IN COSTS AND THE REALITY OF ‘FREE’ RETURNS Another strategy is unconditional free shipping, where the delivery cost is simply baked into the product’s base price. This allows consumers to avoid the “pain of paying” a separate fee at checkout. However, we are still paying for the postage through higher item costs.For retailers, offering unconditional free shipping without a markup can be difficult to sustain profitably. The bump in sales usually does not offset the lost fee revenue and the costs of fulfilment. A major reason for this lack of profitability is that free shipping leads to significantly higher product return rates. Consumers tend to make riskier purchases if the appearance of waived fees lowers the perceived financial risk of the transaction. For example, you might order the same shirt in two different sizes, knowing you can just send one back for free. Who pays for that added convenience? The retailer, who now has to cover the courier fees twice. The retailer usually won’t simply absorb this cost, but will have to pass it on in other ways. THE SUBSCRIPTION ILLUSION To combat these unpredictable costs, many businesses are turning to membership, loyalty or subscription models such as Amazon Prime. Consumers pay an upfront annual fee in exchange for “free” expedited shipping year-round. Membership-based programs successfully increase customer loyalty and purchase frequency, and allow for better customer segmentation. But in the long run, they may actually hurt a retailer’s profit margins. While loyalty rises, the operational costs of fulfilling many smaller, free-shipped orders can potentially outweigh the benefits if not strictly managed. For the consumer, this model manipulates our “mental accounting”. Because we view the upfront fee as money already spent, every additional purchase feels like it comes with a free perk. We end up shopping more frequently on that specific platform just to “get our money’s worth”.DON’T BUY THE ILLUSION The age of limitless free shipping may be coming to an end. As global supply chain costs remain volatile, we are likely to see retailers raising their minimum spend thresholds, removing offers, or increasing base product prices to compensate. The next time you are shopping online, resist the urge for instant gratification. If you are about to add a $15 pair of novelty avocado socks to your cart, just to save $10 on shipping, take a step back. Ask yourself if you truly need that purchase to arrive this week. Instead of rushing to checkout, let your digital basket fill up naturally over time with items you actually need. You will eventually hit the threshold, but on your own terms. “Free” delivery is just a clever psychological illusion. The cost is rarely eliminated; it is simply redistributed into higher product prices or reframed as a loyalty perk. Don’t let the allure of “free” shipping trick you into paying for more than you intended. Adrian R Camilleri is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Technology Sydney. This commentary first appeared on The Conversation.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>悉尼：你正在浏览一个在线零售商，比如亚马逊、Shein 或 eBay，看到一件售价 40 美元的衬衫正在打折。你把它加入购物车，但在结账时，突然出现了 10 美元的运费。感到沮丧的你关闭了标签页。但如果那件衬衫的价格是 50 美元，并且有 “免费” 送货呢？你毫不犹豫地购买它的可能性就会大大增加。COVID-19 改变了我们的购物方式，加速了我们对电子商务的依赖。但随着在线销售的增长，消费者对免费送货的期望也随之增加。然而，现实是，运输实物商品从来不是免费的。零售商使用微妙的营销策略和心理技巧来掩盖这些成本。因此，消费者往往是承担费用的一方。零的魔力 “免费” 这一概念有着独特的吸引力。在行为经济学中，零不仅仅是一个较低的价格；它触动了心理开关。当交易涉及成本时，我们本能地权衡其负面影响。但当某样东西完全免费时，我们会体验到积极的情绪，并将该优惠视为比数学上更有价值。零售商无疑意识到，提供免费送货是阻止消费者放弃数字购物车的最有效方式之一。最低消费陷阱 也许最常见的营销策略是免费送货门槛。有时这被表述为 “消费 55 美元即可获得免费送货”。如果你的购物车里只有 40 美元，你就面临一个困境。你可以支付 10 美元的邮费，或者找到一件 15 美元的商品以达到门槛。我们中的许多人选择后者，认为获得一件实物产品，比如一双袜子，总比 “浪费” 钱在运费上要好。这一策略利用了 “目标梯度效应”，即我们越接近目标，就越倾向于付出更多的努力。对于零售商来说，这一策略也非常有效。研究表明，免费送货增加了购买频率和整体订单规模。设定免费送货门槛的政策通常会促使这种 “补充消费” 行为。消费者最终购买了他们最初并不想要的东西，从而提升了零售商的销售额。内嵌成本与 “免费” 退货的现实 另一种策略是无条件免费送货，即将运费直接包含在产品的基础价格中。这使消费者能够避免在结账时支付单独费用的 “支付痛苦”。然而，我们仍然通过更高的商品成本支付邮费。对于零售商来说，提供无条件免费送货而不加价是很难盈利的。销售的增长通常无法抵消失去的费用收入和履行成本。这种缺乏盈利能力的主要原因是，免费送货导致产品退货率显著提高。当免除费用的外观降低了交易的财务风险时，消费者往往会进行更冒险的购买。例如，你可能会订购同一件衬衫的两种不同尺码，知道你可以免费退回其中一件。谁为这种额外的便利付费？零售商，现在必须承担两次的快递费用。零售商通常不会简单地吸收这笔费用，而是必须以其他方式转嫁。订阅幻觉 为了应对这些不可预测的成本，许多企业转向会员、忠诚度或订阅模式，如亚马逊 Prime。消费者支付一笔预付的年费，以换取全年 “免费” 的加急送货。基于会员的程序成功地提高了客户忠诚度和购买频率，并允许更好的客户细分。但从长远来看，这可能实际上会损害零售商的利润率。尽管忠诚度上升，但履行许多较小的、免费送货订单的运营成本如果管理不当，可能会超过其带来的好处。对于消费者来说，这一模式操控了我们的 “心理账户”。因为我们将预付费用视为已经支出的资金，每次额外购买都感觉像是附带了一个免费福利。我们最终在那个特定平台上更频繁地购物，只是为了 “物有所值”。不要被幻觉所迷惑 无限免费送货的时代可能即将结束。随着全球供应链成本保持波动，我们可能会看到零售商提高最低消费门槛、取消优惠或提高基础产品价格以进行补偿。下次你在线购物时，抵制即时满足的冲动。如果你正准备将一双 15 美元的趣味鳄梨袜加入购物车，只是为了节省 10 美元的运费，稍微停下来。问问自己，你真的需要这件商品在本周到达吗？不要急于结账，让你的数字购物篮随着时间的推移自然填满你真正需要的物品。你最终会达到门槛，但是在你自己的条件下。“免费” 送货只是一个巧妙的心理幻觉。成本很少被消除；它只是重新分配到更高的产品价格中，或被重新框定为忠诚度福利。不要让 “免费” 送货的诱惑让你支付超过你原本打算的费用。阿德里安·R·卡米利里是悉尼科技大学市场营销副教授。本文首次出现在《对话》上。</p>
</div>

Commentary: Does ‘free’ shipping really exist? Here are the marketing tricks you need to know

Proshares Supply Chain Logistics ETF

电子商务 ETF - GlobalX

Roundhill AMZN WeeklyPay ETF

道琼斯运输类股平均指数 ETF - iShares

GraniteShares 2x Long AMZN Daily ETF

标普交通运输 ETF - SPDR

标普零售指数 ETF - SPDR

零售业 ETF - VanEck Vectors

亚马逊每日 2 倍做多 ETF - Direxion

亚马逊

评论：'免费'送货真的存在吗？以下是您需要知道的营销策略