Shopping Motivations – Free Shipping, Discounts, or Free Gifts

On a daily basis, we get bombarded with e-mails from stores that want our money. They always seem to offer all sorts of incentives and hooks to draw you in – new products, discounts, and free gifts. But what actually motivates you to shop and actually go through with the purchase? The most common incentives that websites offer are free shipping, discounts, or free gifts. Generally speaking, does one of these motivates you more than the other?

Free Shipping
This can be a huge motivator for a lot of people. Granted, usually it means that you have to spend a little more than you intended. But on some sites such as Sephora, you get more for your dollar when you buy the extra $10 item instead of paying $5.95 in shipping costs.

Discounts
Sometimes websites offer outright discounts such as codes for 15 percent off. This is usually a great way to stock up on favorites at a better price, or a perfect excuse to try something new without risking as much of your hard-earned money.

Free Items
This is a personal favorite of mine. I love the idea of free samples or a gift with purchase. Or better yet, the combination of both! That is a huge motivator for me, getting something ‘extra’. Not to mention, who can resist the little samples sizes of things.

Some of the studies show that younger shoppers prefer percentage discounts while older shoppers prefer free shipping. That makes quite a bit of sense to me. Certain age groups respond to the idea of getting a better deal (the discount) while other age groups respond better to balancing out the advantage of shopping from home versus having to go to the store (the free shipping).

Get shopping!