You’re not selling shipping. You’re selling what’s in the box.
But shipping is often the thing that stops a customer from buying.
Seven out of ten online carts in Canada get abandoned. The biggest reason? Unexpected costs at checkout. Shipping, taxes, and fees still kill more sales than almost anything else (Baymard Institute, 2024).
It’s even worse on mobile. Most shoppers browse and buy from their phones, where every extra click, delay, or surprise costs you conversions (Salesforce, 2024).
The brands winning right now keep things simple:
- Free shipping over a clear threshold.
- A predictable flat fee below it.
- Fast checkout.
- No surprises.
And after two Canada Post disruptions in two years, they’re not relying on a single carrier either.
We’re back with another round of ShipSavvy upgrades!
What Canadian Brands Are Actually Doing
We reviewed shipping policies across leading Canadian brands in supplements, apparel, electronics, beauty, home goods, and automotive.
The pattern was remarkably consistent.
Most offer free shipping once customers reach a specific order value. Below that threshold, they charge a flat shipping fee.
Very few display live carrier rates in the cart.
Supplements
Organika: Free over $79, $9.99 under.
AOR: Free over $75, $10 under.
ATP Lab: Free over $100.
Canadian Protein: Free over $99 with a flat-rate fallback.
Iron Vegan: Free over $45.
Across the category, free shipping thresholds typically sit slightly above average order value, encouraging customers to add one more item before checking out.
Apparel
Aritzia offers free shipping over $50.
Frank And Oak ships free over $100 and charges a flat fee below that.
Knix and Smash + Tess follow a similar model.
Again, the goal is simple: customers know what they’ll pay before they start checkout.
Electronics, Home, and More
Best Buy Canada offers free shipping on eligible orders over $35.
Memory Express uses a flat-rate approach for smaller shipments.
Saje, Endy, Article, Princess Auto, and others all follow variations of the same formula.
Different products. Different industries.
Same strategy.
Free over a threshold. Flat fee below it.
Shopify reports that 80% of consumers will add products to qualify for free shipping, and 84% have done so within the past year.
Every Second Costs You Sales
Many merchants assume live carrier rates improve the customer experience.
In reality, they often do the opposite.
To display live rates, your checkout must pause while requesting pricing from a carrier. That creates delay.
Google and Deloitte found that even a 0.1-second improvement in mobile speed increased retail conversions by 8.4%.
Akamai found that a one-second delay correlates with a 7% drop in conversions.
The message is clear.
Faster checkout converts better.
Customers don’t want to wait for a shipping calculation. They want to know the answer immediately.
And when the number finally appears, if it’s higher than expected, you’ve introduced a second reason for abandonment.
That’s why so many successful brands choose predictable pricing instead.
Simple wins.
What We’d Set Up Tomorrow
If we were helping you optimize shipping today, here’s where we’d start.
1. Set a Free Shipping Threshold
Choose a threshold approximately 25-30% above your average order value.
If your average order is $70, test free shipping at $89.
If your average order is $120, test $149.
Customers frequently add products to qualify, increasing both conversions and average order value.
2. Charge a Flat Fee Below It
For most Canadian eCommerce brands, a simple flat rate works.
Customers prefer certainty.
A predictable $9.99 fee performs better than forcing customers through multiple checkout steps just to discover the shipping cost.
3. Run More Than One Carrier
Use two carriers from day one.
Make carrier switching easy.
If Canada Post experiences another disruption, you should be able to reroute shipments immediately-not spend days rebuilding your shipping setup.
4. Control Cross-Border Risk
If you sell products restricted by U.S. regulations, block those items from U.S. checkout altogether.
It’s far cheaper to prevent a rejected shipment than to deal with returns, customs issues, and unhappy customers afterward.
5. Keep Checkout Fast
Avoid adding unnecessary calculations and delays.
Every additional second creates friction.
Every additional step gives customers another opportunity to leave.
When Live Rates Actually Make Sense
There are exceptions.
Live carrier rates are useful when:
Heavy or Oversized Shipments
Furniture.
Gym equipment.
Large industrial products.
Anything where a flat fee would create significant losses.
Cross-Border Orders
International shipping costs vary significantly based on destination, duties, brokerage fees, and carrier surcharges.
Live pricing can help protect margins.
Freight and B2B Orders
Pallet shipments and commercial freight typically require real-time quotes.
For everything else?
Keep it simple.
Most supplement orders.
Most apparel orders.
Most beauty products.
Most consumer electronics.
Most eCommerce shipments benefit more from predictable pricing than perfect pricing.
The Bottom Line
The data points in the same direction.
Customers want simple shipping.
They want predictable costs.
They want fast checkout.
And they want confidence that their order will arrive.
The setup is straightforward:
- Free shipping over a clear threshold.
- Flat fee below it.
- Two carriers instead of one.
- Fast checkout.
- No surprises.
That’s what converts.
And it’s what helps your business keep shipping when the unexpected happens.
About ShipSavvy
ShipSavvy is a Canadian-built shipping platform designed for growing eCommerce brands.
Access major carriers through a single account, manage shipments from one dashboard, and simplify cross-border logistics with SavvyBroker customs support.
If you have any questions or need help getting started, our team is here for you. Thanks for shipping with ShipSavvy, we’ll be back soon with more updates.