Show shipping costs before checkout starts

When to use it

When product and cart pages show no shipping cost, and far more visitors click add-to-cart than click through to checkout.

How to run it

Show a shipping estimate or flat-rate line on the cart page, like 'Free shipping over $50, otherwise $4.95', and the full order total from the first checkout step.

Why it works

Make it safe to believe you

The same cost shown early reads as fair, but revealed at the last step it reads as bait-and-switch. Unexpected extra costs are the #1 reason for cart abandonment in Baymard's surveys, cited by roughly 48% of shoppers.

Source: Baymard Institute