I do a lot of shopping online. I have 3-year old triplets, and getting out to a store is challenging since I'd rather not have to drag them with me. Today, I wanted to order something for my daughter, but I stopped because the website where I need to order the item charges for shipping. I want to order something that's under $10, and I can't justify the shipping charges. 
This is certainly not the first time I've faced this problem, and I'm sure this is a common problem with online shopping. As a marketer, I started to think of pricing strategies and bundling shipping charges into prices to attract customers with a "Shipping is always free" tagline. A lot of eBay power sellers and eBay stores use this strategy quite successfully.
I suppose smaller retailers may not be able to get the discounts they would need from shipping companies to make this strategy financially feasible, but certainly large companies could make this work and still charge competitive prices.
What do you think? Do you hesitate to buy from companies that don't offer free shipping? Do you seek out online stores that don't charge for shipping? Free shipping seems like a great differentiator that would appeal to online customers. I know I'd notice. How about you?
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