Although most shoppers still buy products in brick-and-mortar stores, online shopping continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The ease and convenience of pointing and clicking on the things we want, of which there is seemingly an infinite supply on the web, is unmatched by any “real life” shopping experience. The offers are not bad either.

But one of the most annoying aspects of online shopping is having to pay for delivery. For many people, paying shipping costs is a deal-breaker, preventing them from converting to online trading entirely.

Nobody likes to pay money to wait a week or more for purchased products to reach their destination. Someone walking into a store can instantly grab the product, pay, and walk out the door. If the customer wants their items faster, like overnight, be prepared to pay an arm and a leg. Pointing and clicking online is fun, but no one likes to pay for the privilege of waiting for items to arrive.

Nobody likes to pay extra money on top of the cost of the product, in fact. Sometimes the total cost can be cheaper than buying the product in real stores if the buyer gets a big discount, but shipping often represents a significant additional expense. This is especially true if the product is large, heavy, or originates from a remote location.

Worst of all, sometimes customers pay for shipping, only to receive damaged or missing products at the other end. It does not matter if this is the fault of the sender or the delivery service. Even worse if the items don’t even reach their destination. If someone steals the package at the door, it is often difficult to prove otherwise. There is nothing worse than paying for shipping and that service not working.

The last problem with paying for delivery is dealing with returns. If the product turns out to be faulty, or if the customer simply doesn’t like it, they often have to pay the return shipping costs out of pocket. This is in contrast to a normal store: if the product is not correct, just send it back, free of charge. However, with online shipping, the customer not only has to pay for the shipping cost, but also has to pay for the return costs. Double dipping in shipping can hurt the customer experience.