A free plus shipping funnel lets you use the power word 'free' in your marketing campaigns and attract more customers.

This funnel has tremendous power of making a fortune if used correctly.

Our user, Brian Hazard, a recording artist and founder of Color Theory, got about 500 new customers with his '$0 product and $5 shipping' funnel.

If you multiply 500 customers with a $5 offer - it’s $2500. But he actually made $7000 from this funnel!

Well, don't start making any calculations yet because you haven't seen his actual funnel with the upsell, downsell and order bump.

That’s where the real profit is!

In this post, we’ll do a complete analysis of Brian’s badass free plus shipping funnel and how you can set them up in your WooCommerce store.

What is a Free Plus Shipping Funnel and What’s with the Power Word “FREE”?

A free plus shipping funnel is a funnel that works on the principle of giving your visitors a free physical product and only charging them the shipping cost.

But wait, how do you even cover the price of your products? Are free plus shipping models even profitable?

Well, you have to be mindful of setting the shipping costs to cover the cost of your physical products and a bit more.

Let’s say, you are offering a book that costs $4 to publish and $2 to ship. So, in this case, preparing an offer of a free book plus $6 in shipping is the deal breaker.

You don’t have to implement the free plus shipping methodology in all the products in your store. 

A few products would be enough to bring visitors to your website. Since it has the powerful word “FREE”, it’ll surely attract their attention.

According to Dan Ariely of Predictably Irrational, “free” isn’t just an indicator of price but it’s a strong emotional trigger that makes people act irrationally.

You may ask - But why not a $5 product plus the free shipping? That should be equally powerful, right?

Not really. The phrase ‘free shipping’ has been exploited by Amazon and several online stores.

It doesn’t make for a compelling case because people are used to hearing it and will tune out the marketing message.

Brian's Facebook video ad that he ran got tons of traction:

The wordings on Brian’s ad say: "For a limited time, get the SOUND on CD FREE + $5 Shipping/Handling"

He kept the cost at $5 which is close to the actual shipping cost.

While advanced digital marketers may say - Is free plus shipping dead? The truth is it still works well in niches like music, skincare, supplements, books, etc.

Brian’s Actual Free Plus Shipping Funnel in the Works

In this section, we’ll be dissecting Brian’s free plus shipping funnel.

If you’re wondering - who buys CDs in this day and age, well then wait, he has potential customers everywhere.

So as you can imagine it’s not easy to find CDs everywhere - but it’s a small product, easy to ship and has a sort of cult associated with it.

Brian highlighted that:

• Getting stuff in the mail is fun even these days
• Superior sound quality
• Included artwork, lyrics, and liner notes in the box
• Has value as a collectible, especially with a hand-written autographed note.

So those are pretty compelling reasons for people who are raving fans of music!

Here’s a quick look at what his funnel looks like - in the real world:

Let’s now look at all his digital assets and components of the funnel.

1. A 2-step order form

This two-step order form lets users enter their details including their email and shipping address on the first step, followed by the payment details on the next.

Take a look at Brian’s order built using the FunnelKit (formerly WooFunnels) Funnel Builder.

Here’s what makes it effective:

• The page looks on-brand and polished: Notice the beautiful header at the top with the logo at the center done so well!
• Distraction-free header: There are no exit routes from the form for a navigation menu on the page.
• Minimalistic design: He’s not trying to oversell the CD and instead banking on the goodwill. His copy is short, to the point, and makes a compelling case for the product.
• Bang-on social proofs: The social proof is actually from magazines revered in the music industry and his ideal customers know and respect their verdict.

Learn how to set up one-page checkouts from here.

2. The order bump

An order bump is usually a low-priced offer on the checkout page. The users ideally see it right before hitting the 'Place Order' button.

It’s like candies at the checkout counter of the grocery store.

Brian offered 4” stickers for a meager $2 and one can just check on the box to add it to the order:

Here are a few things that make this order bump offer attractive:

• Attention-grabbing section: The page is white and which is why the hot pink order bump section grabs attention.
• Concise order bump copy: Brian is not beating around the bush. Notice how he describes the product and then even tells a bit about the use cases of the sticker.
• Enticing offer: People love custom stickers and the high-quality print is visually attractive.

What’s more? It’s just $2 - it’s a no-brainer, yes!

3. One-click upsells

Brian has divided his offers into a one-click upsell and downsell offer.

Let’s look at the two.

Upsell Offer

A great free plus shipping offer is one that can be purchased in bulk - and Brian got that part right!

He offers authentic music lovers a chance in the form of an upsell offer to get five additional Color Theory CDs in the same package at a bulk discount.

That’s accompanied by a bumper sticker - so another free goodie is thrown into this package.

Take a look at his one-click upsell page:

Here’s why this offer looks tempting:

• Clean Layout: The entire page is lucid and each of its elements is well-arranged. It uses the CD cover as the image, content and a couple of buttons.
• A to-the-point offer copy: Brian has listed his upsell offer copy precisely and to the point - those four short sentences make it easy to digest and understand.
• Highlighting CTA buttons: He has used the hot pink color to highlight the primary 'Add to order' CTA button. It stands out from the secondary button, which is linked to rejecting this offer.

If this offer is accepted, the funnel ends with an order confirmation page. However, if a user chooses to reject it, they are shown a downsell offer.

Downsell Offer

It’s a CD with a 6-panel Digipak with original art at half the price!

Take a look:

Here’s what we particularly love about Brian’s pages:

• Minimalistic design: He doesn’t try to inundate the users with too much information or choices.
• Conversational Tone: The content tone on the pages is conversational and helps pacify customer anxiety!

You do want to come across as friendly and suggestive - not pushy. Many funnel builders forget that - you shouldn’t!

Notice the headlines: “Want to go all in?” or “How about this?”

After this offer, the funnel finally ends with a thank you page.

Now we have studied his free plus shipping funnel, let’s look at the detailed analytics.

The Stellar Results Shown by Brian’s Free Plus Shipping Funnel

Brian’s simplistic free plus shipping funnel has led to incredibly impressive results. He made $7000 from this funnel in just one month!

That’s total sales - the worth of all the transactions that happened in the store.

Out of 460 times that the upsell offers were shown, they were accepted 145 times 🤩 An 18%+ conversion rate - quite impressive!

"The chief moneymaker is the “All CDs” bundle, which started at $40 then dropped to $35 and then $30 as CDs went out of print. Bundle sales account for over $3K and nearly 600 CDs sold." - Brian Hazard

This is the typical well-executed free plus shipping funnel example.

How to Create a Free Plus Shipping Funnel in Your WooCommerce Store?

Let’s follow Brian’s footsteps and create this funnel with the help of the FunnelKit Funnel Builder.

Step 1: Create a new shipping class and assign a shipping zone

Obviously, there must be different shipping methods activated in your store. But, we will be assigning a whole new shipping class to our product.

Go to WooCommerce > Settings. Under the ‘Shipping’ tab, go to Shipping classes.

Add a new shipping class to your store and save it.

Take a look:

Next, go to the 'Shipping zones' section and add a new zone.

Here we have created a new shipping zone for the US region and added the ‘Flat rate’ as the shipping method. You can set your zone to multiple places as well.

Edit the 'Flat Rate' option and specify the $5 fees under the 'free plus shipping funnel' class that we just created.

Step 2: Add a free product to WooCommerce

Go to 'WooCommerce' from the WordPress menu and add a product to your store.

Specify the description, product images and $0 value to it.

Next, associate the free plus shipping class with this product.

Click on 'Update' when done.

Step 3: Install the Funnel Builder

Get a copy of the FunnelKit Funnel Builder here.

Please note that it’s also available in the Lite (free) version too. However, we will be using the Pro version to take advantage of its impressive features.

Once you’ve made the purchase, go to your FunnelKit account and download the following plugin files:

1. Funnel Builder (Base)

2. Funnel Builder Pro

Install and activate these plugins by uploading them to your WordPress website.

Next, copy the activation code of the Pro version from the account. Then, paste it into the Settings section and hit ‘Activate’.

Click on ‘Save Changes’ when done.

Step 4: Add a new funnel

Go to the ‘Funnels’ section and click on ‘Add New Funnel’.

Select the ‘Sales Funnel’ and the page builder of your choice.

Funnel Builder integrates with popular page builders such as Elementor, Divi, Gutenberg, and Oxygen. If you want to use other page builders, you can create your page with the help of shortcodes.

Now, click on ‘Preview’ on the template you want to import.

Here you can see the preview of the pages that will get imported to your funnel.

Select the number of steps you want on your checkout page and click on ‘Import This Funnel’.

Name your funnel as - Free Plus Shipping Funnel and click on ‘Add’.

Your funnel will get created and you’ll be directed to your funnel steps.

Step 5: Customize your checkout page

Click on ‘Edit’ next to your checkout page to start customizing it.

Here you’ll see different tabs to customize your checkout form.

Let’s explore the different tabs one by one.

Design

You can easily customize the design of your checkout page - all you have to do is hit the ‘Edit Template’ button.

Style all the elements of your checkout page including the headings, checkout form, mini cart, background, buttons, typography, colors, border, and much more.

You can even add a countdown time offer widget to arouse urgency. It’ll surely help convert your free plus shipping offer better than usual.

Be sure to click on 'Update' when done.

Products

Go to the 'Products' tab and add the product to your checkout page.

Click on the 'Add Product' button.

Type in the name of your product and add it.

Fields

Next, customize the fields on your checkout form from the ‘Fields’ tab.

For more details, read our post on how to customize the checkout fields here.

Optimizations

Enable the checkout optimizations such as express payment buttons, Google address autocomplete, auto-apply coupons, multi-step field preview, phone field validation and flags, etc.

Hit the 'Save Changes' button once done.

Take a look at the final checkout page with a free product and a $5 shipping fee:

Step 7: Add the order bump

As you recall, Brian has offered low-priced stickers as order bumps. You can follow the same strategy in your free plus shipping funnel.

Go back to your funnel and click on 'Add Order Bump' under the checkout.

Name your order bump offer and hit 'Add'.

Your order bump has been created. Click on 'Edit' to start customizing it as per your requirements.

You can make use of different tabs to set up your bump offer.

Products

Add a product as your order bump offer.

Click on 'Add Product' and search for the name of your product to add it here.

Once done, you can add some percentage discounts on it along with the behavior and display position settings.

When you’re all set, click on 'Save Changes'.

Design

Here you can design the look and feel of your order bump the way you want.

You can change the title, subtitle and copy of your bump offer.

Plus, you can choose the skins to customize the appearance of your order bump.

Also, you can customize specific elements in your order bumps such as colors of the toggle, price, description, product image, and offer box from the ‘Edit Style’ option.

Once you’re happy with your design, click on 'Save Changes'.

This is how your order bump will look on the checkout page:

Step 7: Customize your one-click upsell offer

Let’s set up our one-click upsell offers to increase the AOV for our free plus shipping funnel.

Go back to your funnel and click on ‘Edit’ next to your upsell page.

Add the product you want to upsell and offer a 10% discount on it.

You can even add multiple upsells and downsells here.

All you have to do is click on the ‘Add New Offer’ button.

Name your second offer and categorize it under upsell or downsell.

Here we will make it a downsell offer.

Now, repeat the same process of adding another product as a downsell.

Next, set the dynamic offer path as:

• When the upsell is accepted, show the thank you page
• When the upsell is rejected, show the downsell offer page

Select the first offer and scroll down to the page, you’ll see the settings there. Configure these settings there:

Similarly, you can create multiple offers and dynamically offer them to your customers.

That’s it! You have successfully set your upsell offers in your free plus shipping funnel.

This is how you can add free plus shipping offers to your WooCommerce store. Now you’re ready to invite visitors onto your funnel with the help of paid ads.

Not just this funnel, you can create hundreds of different sales funnels with the help of Funnel Builder and take your business to the next level.

What's Next for Brian's Free Plus Shipping Funnel?

The astonishing fact about Brian's free plus shipping funnel is not his numbers or that he gained 500 new customers.

Of course, that's important, he can sell them more stuff down the lane and increase the lifetime customer value.

Also, he now has a system that he can strategically scale.

But the fact that he showed the grit to put all the blocks of his funnel together.

He pulled just the right product out of his garage, figured out the details, did the research, invested in the right tech stack, and took a kickstart.

This is one of the many examples of FunnelKit (formerly WooFunnels) users who vouch for the gains and systems they were able to create with the help of this plugin.

If you're looking to amplify your business, then the FunnelKit Funnel Builder is your best bet >>