The idea that shoppers are getting shipping for free when they receive "free shipping" is a bit of a tall tale on both the retailer and consumer side.
This article talks about the fact that adding an additional shipping charge is painful after years of conditioning customers to expect that charge to be $0.
Yet it's not as if retailers have had to eat 100% of that cost in the absence of a separate line item on the order. Consumers are aware that shipping charges are often priced into the base cost of the items, especially from online-only retailers who don't need to maintain the illusion of having the same price in store and online.
Personally, I like the idea of baking the shipping cost into the price of the item. (I also like the idea of baking gratuities into the cost of restaurant meals.) And if a company then wants to offer some discount for quantity or loyalty or whatever, that's fine.
This article talks about the fact that adding an additional shipping charge is painful after years of conditioning customers to expect that charge to be $0.
Yet it's not as if retailers have had to eat 100% of that cost in the absence of a separate line item on the order. Consumers are aware that shipping charges are often priced into the base cost of the items, especially from online-only retailers who don't need to maintain the illusion of having the same price in store and online.
Personally, I like the idea of baking the shipping cost into the price of the item. (I also like the idea of baking gratuities into the cost of restaurant meals.) And if a company then wants to offer some discount for quantity or loyalty or whatever, that's fine.