Free-Shipping Threshold Analysis
Free-Shipping Threshold Analysis shows how many orders ship free at each order size. It also shows the shipping revenue you’d stop collecting if free shipping started at a higher order size.
How It’s Calculated
Orders are grouped into bands by their subtotal: the items on the order, after discounts and before shipping and tax. Each band is 25 wide in your store’s currency, and there are at most 40 bands. The last band holds every order of 975 or more.
The cards at the top show Orders, Ships Free and Shipping Charged for the whole date range. The chart shows the Ships Free share for each band.
The columns are:
- Order Subtotal From: the bottom of the band. A band starting at 50 holds orders from 50 up to 75.
- Orders: the number of orders in the band.
- Ships Free: the share of those orders that paid nothing for shipping. That includes orders that have no shipping line.
- Shipping Charged: what those orders paid for shipping, after shipping discounts.
- Charged at or Above: the shipping charged on orders in this band and every higher band.
Charged at or Above is the number to read. If free shipping started at this band’s subtotal, every order at or above it would ship free. This is the shipping revenue you’d stop collecting.
Bands with no orders aren’t listed. A totals row under the table adds up Orders and Shipping Charged and shows the Ships Free share across all orders. Show totals row in the Report settings menu turns it on or off for every report.
What It Doesn’t Tell You
- It’s revenue only. The report leaves out what you pay carriers, so it shows what you’d stop charging, not what you’d earn or lose overall.
- It assumes nobody changes what they buy. A higher order size when free shipping is on offer is the point of a threshold, but the report doesn’t model it.
What Counts
- Orders count on the day they were processed, in your store’s time zone.
- Canceled orders, and orders whose payment was voided or expired, are left out.
- Returns and refunds don’t change the figures.
- Sales Channel, Segment and Filters narrow the report. There’s no comparison period.
What Good Looks Like
There’s no single right threshold. Look for where the share that ships free rises as order size grows.
- Ships Free jumps at your current threshold. Orders at or above it ship free, so the share should rise there.
- A large group of orders just below a band with a high Ships Free share. Some of these customers might add an item to reach free shipping.
- A low Charged at or Above for a higher band. Moving the threshold there costs you little shipping revenue.
What to Do About It
- Compare bands. Pick a threshold that sits above where most orders already land, and read Charged at or Above for it to see what you’d give up.
- Pair it with order value. Average Order Value shows where your typical order sits.
- Check what shipping is bringing in now. Shipping Revenue by Method & Carrier shows charged, kept and discounted shipping by rate.
Where to Find It
- Free-Shipping Threshold Analysis: open Reports and look under Shipping.
- Shipping Revenue by Method & Carrier: what shipping brings in, by rate.
- Shipping Refund Consistency: whether returns get shipping refunded alike.