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Although most shoppers still buy products in physical stores, online shopping continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The ease and convenience of pointing and clicking the things we want, of which there is seemingly an endless supply on the web, is unmatched by any “real life” shopping experience. The deals aren’t bad either.

But one of the most annoying aspects of shopping online is having to pay for delivery. For many people, paying shipping costs is a deciding factor that prevents them from fully converting to online shopping.

Nobody likes to pay money to wait a week or more for the purchased products to arrive at their destination. Someone walking into a store can instantly grab the product, pay, and walk out the door. If the customer wants his items faster, like the next day, he is prepared to pay an arm and a leg. Pointing and clicking online is fun, but no one likes paying for the privilege of waiting for items to arrive.

No one likes to pay extra money on top of the cost of the product. Sometimes the total cost can be cheaper than buying the product in real stores if the buyer gets a great discount, but often shipping is an important extra expense. This is especially true if the product is large, heavy, or originates from a distant location.

Worst of all, sometimes customers pay for shipping, only to receive damaged or missing products at the other end. It does not matter if this is the fault of the sender or the delivery service. Worse yet if the items don’t even make it to their destination. If someone steals the package from a door, it is often difficult to prove otherwise. There is nothing worse than paying for shipping and the service failing.

The final issue with delivery payment is dealing with chargebacks. If the product turns out to be faulty, or if the customer just doesn’t like it, they often have to pay the return shipping costs out of pocket. This is in contrast to a normal store: if the product is not correct, simply return it, free of charge. However, with online shipping, the customer not only has to pay for the shipping cost, but also has to pay for the return costs. Double dipping into shipping can sour a customer’s experience.

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