fees influence order incidence and basket size. Promotions such as free shipping and free shipping for orders that exceed some size threshold are found to be very effective in generating additional sales. However, the lost revenues from shipping and the lack of response by several segments are substantial enough to render such promotions unprofitable to the retailer. Heterogeneity across consumers also suggests interesting opportunities for the retailer to customize the shipping and other marketing-mix promotion offerings.
The ongoing interest in pattern-based clustering and free shipping among those in academic and practitioner circles shows, I believe, that these are two important areas of study. I hope that researchers will find this study helpful in their own investigations. Consistent with Cambria Press publishing policies, this work has complete documentation and methodology so that future scholars can build upon this work. However, I also provide a concise Executive Summary for managers who wish to have a quick overview of the complete work and its findings.
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