Shipping is one of the most emotional topics in e-commerce. A customer will happily pay 40 euros for a product but resent 3.50 euros of shipping. Meanwhile, plenty of merchants do not know exactly what a delivery really costs them.
Let us sort it out: numbers first, decisions second.
Step 1: Work out your true cost per shipment
The courier invoice is just the start. Your real cost per order includes:
- The courier's per-parcel charge, by weight or volumetric weight.
- Surcharges for remote areas and islands, where they apply.
- The cash-on-delivery collection fee.
- Packaging: box, paper, tape, envelope, thank-you card.
- Packing time (yes, your time costs money).
- Uncollected parcels and returns, spread across all orders.
Take a quarter's worth of orders and calculate the average. If you do not know this number, every shipping decision is a guess.
Step 2: Choose your courier (or couriers)
In Greece the main options are ACS, ELTA Courier, Geniki Taxydromiki, Speedex, DHL for international, plus locker networks such as BOX NOW. There is no single "best". There is the best for your profile. Compare:
- Price for your typical parcel, not the "up to 2 kg" line on the rate card.
- Reliability and transit times in the areas you ship to most. Ask other merchants in your niche.
- Pickup from your premises: daily? At what time?
- COD remittance: how often and how quickly the money reaches you.
- E-shop integration: creating vouchers from your admin, tracking links in customer emails automatically.
- Support when things go wrong.
Many shops use two carriers: one main door-to-door courier and one for lockers or specific regions. That gives customers a choice and gives you negotiating leverage. Lockers in particular deserve a serious look if your parcels are small.
Step 3: Pick a pricing model
The usual options:
- Flat rate (for example one price for all of Greece). Simple, easy to understand and communicate. We recommend it for most small shops.
- By weight or zone. More accurate for you, more confusing for the customer. Suits heavy or bulky goods.
- Always free. The cost is built into your prices. It works when margins are healthy and your prices are not easily compared on Skroutz. If they are, you will look more expensive.
- Free above a threshold. The most common model, and the one that needs the most thought.
Step 4: Set the free-shipping threshold properly
A free-shipping threshold has two jobs: make shipping less of a barrier and raise average order value. Set it too low and you are giving away shipping on orders that would have happened anyway. Set it too high and nobody bothers trying to reach it.
A practical method:
- Find your average order value (AOV) and the distribution of orders by amount.
- Test a threshold a little above your AOV, so a meaningful share of customers need "just a bit more" to qualify.
- Make sure you have gap-filler products: cheap, useful, complementary items (spare parts, small accessories, consumables).
- Do the maths: if the margin on the extra spend covers the shipping, you come out ahead.
- Measure for six to eight weeks, comparing AOV, conversion rate and shipping cost as a share of sales.
Look at what competitors do as well. If your whole niche sits around a certain threshold, a much higher one will look stingy.
Step 5: Make the threshold visible
A threshold customers do not know about lifts no baskets.
- In a slim bar at the top of the site.
- On the product page, near the price.
- In the cart, with a progress bar: "You are 7.50 € away from free shipping".
- With product suggestions that fit the missing amount.
Packaging: the hidden cost
Packaging affects cost more than it seems. A box bigger than necessary raises the volumetric weight and therefore the courier charge. Keep two or three standard sizes that fit your usual baskets, plus padded envelopes for small items. Less empty space also means fewer damaged products, and so fewer returns.
Islands and remote areas
Many couriers add surcharges or longer transit times for islands and hard-to-reach areas. Decide whether you will absorb them, pass them on, or set a different threshold. Whatever you choose, state it clearly. A customer on Naxos would rather know upfront than discover it at checkout.
Delivery times and communication
Customers do not only want cheap shipping; they want to know when the parcel will arrive:
- State a cut-off time: "Orders placed by 14:00 ship the same day".
- Give delivery ranges by region.
- Send a tracking link automatically as soon as the voucher is created.
- Warn about public holidays and peak seasons, when couriers run late.
Checklist
- True cost per shipment calculated
- At least two couriers compared
- A locker option for customers who prefer it
- A simple pricing model
- A free-shipping threshold based on AOV
- Threshold visible site-wide, on product pages and in the cart
- Clear terms for islands and remote areas
- Cut-off time and automatic tracking
The bottom line
Shipping strategy is part arithmetic, part psychology. Start from your real costs, keep pricing simple, and use the free-shipping threshold as a tool rather than a gift. If you need help connecting couriers to your shop or configuring shipping rules, see our e-shop development service or get in touch.