Did somebody say FREE?

theMerchant

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#2
awesome. I made a purchase today because of this, or else I would of bought from Aquarium.S.S. lol
 

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awesome. I made a purchase today because of this, or else I would of bought from Aquarium.S.S. lol
Thank you so much for your comment and for sharing your feedback with us. We are extremely excited to be offering free shipping on nearly every order and are closely monitoring sales and customer feedback. We are delighted with the positive response from folks since we made this announcement Friday!
 
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#4
I put in an order through you because of the free shipping. I would have gone through BRS otherwise.
 

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I put in an order through you because of the free shipping. I would have gone through BRS otherwise.
Make this permanent and I'll stop shopping at BRS for free shipping. =P
Ordered my t5 bulbs free shipping
Took advantage of a free shipping for couple of items needed.
Thank you all soooooo much for shopping with us and for letting us know that you dig having a free shipping option! Keep the feedback coming!
 
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#9
Thank you all soooooo much for shopping with us and for letting us know that you dig having a free shipping option! Keep the feedback coming!
The beauty about free shipping is that you're more inclined to buy things you don't need. lol I mean, ever since I got amazon prime with free 1/2 day shipping, I spend money on stuff on a weekly basis.
 

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[MENTION=3768]Confuse[/MENTION] [MENTION=5775]newe70[/MENTION] [MENTION=9651]Conejo89[/MENTION] - how long does the shipping take? When MD warehouse was in OC, I would order Monday and it would be there Tuesday. Is it still the same even though they moved their warehouse?


[MENTION=6299]MarineDepot[/MENTION], is free shipping permanent?
 
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[MENTION=3768]Confuse[/MENTION] [MENTION=5775]newe70[/MENTION] [MENTION=9651]Conejo89[/MENTION] - how long does the shipping take? When MD warehouse was in OC, I would order Monday and it would be there Tuesday. Is it still the same even though they moved their warehouse?


[MENTION=6299]MarineDepot[/MENTION], is free shipping permanent?
I ordered Friday morning and got hear on Saturday free shipping

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#12
[MENTION=3768]Confuse[/MENTION] [MENTION=5775]newe70[/MENTION] [MENTION=9651]Conejo89[/MENTION] - how long does the shipping take? When MD warehouse was in OC, I would order Monday and it would be there Tuesday. Is it still the same even though they moved their warehouse?


[MENTION=6299]MarineDepot[/MENTION], is free shipping permanent?
I typically get it a day after it ships. They moved from the Garden Grove location?
 

MarineDepot

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[MENTION=3768]Confuse[/MENTION] [MENTION=5775]newe70[/MENTION] [MENTION=9651]Conejo89[/MENTION] - how long does the shipping take? When MD warehouse was in OC, I would order Monday and it would be there Tuesday. Is it still the same even though they moved their warehouse?

[MENTION=6299]MarineDepot[/MENTION], is free shipping permanent?
I typically get it a day after it ships. They moved from the Garden Grove location?
Our headquarters is still in Garden Grove, CA. That is where I am right now. :)

The big focus for us in the first half of this year was to improve our delivery speed. Our goal was to get customers in the contiguous United States their orders in 2 business days or less, like Amazon. We are now doing that for 95% of customers, which we are stoked about!

California orders are now primarily shipping from Nevada. Southern Californians still receive their orders in 1 day; Central and Northern California in 2 days.

We aren't sure quite yet if free shipping will become permanent. We are monitoring the data super closely. This is the longest period in which we've offered it. The short-term observations are that more visitors covert into customers and we are receiving more orders, but the average order value has dropped. We also don't quite yet if the in flux of new orders will become repeat buyers.

To make it permanent, which many of us want to do and which seems to be the trend in ecommerce in general, we'll likely need to find ways to incentivize shoppers to spend more. Reward points, unlocking free gifts, etc.

It is extremely helpful to hear what you guys think because obviously it influences our decision-making. We really try hard to make things work when we know it's what our customers really want.
 
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Our headquarters is still in Garden Grove, CA. That is where I am right now. :)

The big focus for us in the first half of this year was to improve our delivery speed. Our goal was to get customers in the contiguous United States their orders in 2 business days or less, like Amazon. We are now doing that for 95% of customers, which we are stoked about!

California orders are now primarily shipping from Nevada. Southern Californians still receive their orders in 1 day; Central and Northern California in 2 days.

We aren't sure quite yet if free shipping will become permanent. We are monitoring the data super closely. This is the longest period in which we've offered it. The short-term observations are that more visitors covert into customers and we are receiving more orders, but the average order value has dropped. We also don't quite yet if the in flux of new orders will become repeat buyers.

To make it permanent, which many of us want to do and which seems to be the trend in ecommerce in general, we'll likely need to find ways to incentivize shoppers to spend more. Reward points, unlocking free gifts, etc.

It is extremely helpful to hear what you guys think because obviously it influences our decision-making. We really try hard to make things work when we know it's what our customers really want.
So ideally, what needs to happen to continue free shipping? I can see why order value has dropped. People no longer need to pad their order to fulfill the $75 free shipping. I see myself ordering smaller items, but also ordering more frequently, as I need supplies. Before, when I needed a small item, I would fill my cart up to get to free shipping and then make an order a month later when I needed more supplies.

And I mean, free shipping doesn't have to be lightning fast. I think to the east coast, it should be the most economical way to send a package. Same thing for CA. Then you could charge people a little more for 2 day shipping to get their items faster. I think BRS has a good strategy. They have free shipping (economy) and then for a few dollars more they have 2-3 day shipping.

One thing that happened when BRS started free shipping nationwide was that the locals started to complain that they weren't receiving their packages in one day like they did before. This was due to the need to reduce shipping costs locally. Locally, that would suck for us, but from a business aspect, it makes total sense.

Hope you guys find a happy medium!
 

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So ideally, what needs to happen to continue free shipping? I can see why order value has dropped. People no longer need to pad their order to fulfill the $75 free shipping. I see myself ordering smaller items, but also ordering more frequently, as I need supplies. Before, when I needed a small item, I would fill my cart up to get to free shipping and then make an order a month later when I needed more supplies.

And I mean, free shipping doesn't have to be lightning fast. I think to the east coast, it should be the most economical way to send a package. Same thing for CA. Then you could charge people a little more for 2 day shipping to get their items faster. I think BRS has a good strategy. They have free shipping (economy) and then for a few dollars more they have 2-3 day shipping.

One thing that happened when BRS started free shipping nationwide was that the locals started to complain that they weren't receiving their packages in one day like they did before. This was due to the need to reduce shipping costs locally. Locally, that would suck for us, but from a business aspect, it makes total sense.

Hope you guys find a happy medium!
I think finding that happy medium is key.

We have also been experimenting with an economy option that takes anywhere from 1-7 business days to arrive as well. Similar to BRS, we'll use a mix of economy methods to fulfill the order... essentially the system is going to calculate, as you described, what would be the most economical way to send the package(s).

Capturing more transactions with lower average order values may be OK in the long run if those customers return to place future orders with us. The lifetime value of a customer is more important than any single order.

We'll continue to keep an eye on the data and may even extend the free shipping promotion to gather more information.

We know charging for shipping is a friction point for shoppers and we would like to eliminate it if we can!
 

newe70

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#19
[MENTION=3768]Confuse[/MENTION] [MENTION=5775]newe70[/MENTION] [MENTION=9651]Conejo89[/MENTION] - how long does the shipping take? When MD warehouse was in OC, I would order Monday and it would be there Tuesday. Is it still the same even though they moved their warehouse?


[MENTION=6299]MarineDepot[/MENTION], is free shipping permanent?
I ordered a couple of times yesterday afternoon and Fedex Home Delivery delivered around 11ish this morning. Less than 24 hrs turn around. That is very good and free shipping also.
 

MarineDepot

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I ordered a couple of times yesterday afternoon and Fedex Home Delivery delivered around 11ish this morning. Less than 24 hrs turn around. That is very good and free shipping also.
Thank you so much for shopping with us and for letting us know that your order arrived so quickly!

 

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