Minimum order value or none, should you set one?
A minimum can stop orders that lose money on shipping but it can also turn away buyers, so a worked example helps you see whether a free shipping line does the job gently instead.
Small orders can cost more to fulfil than they earn. A minimum order value seems like a neat fix. Yet it is a hard rule, and some shoppers will simply leave. Before you set one, do the arithmetic and consider a softer option.
The problem a minimum solves
Every order has costs that do not shrink with the basket. Packing, a box, a label, a payment fee and shipping all apply whether the parcel holds one item or four. Say a pack of tea sells at Rs 150 and costs you Rs 90 to buy, so you earn Rs 60 on it. Suppose packing and courier together cost you Rs 85 for one parcel. That single sale loses Rs 25. Two packs earn Rs 120 before the same Rs 85 and leave you Rs 35 ahead. The numbers are only illustrative, but the pattern is real.
A minimum order tries to avoid the first kind of order.
The cost of a hard minimum
If your rule says no orders below Rs 300, a customer who wanted one pack cannot buy it. Some will add something. Some will leave and not return. I cannot tell you which will happen in your store, and anyone who says a minimum raises order value is guessing. What you can say is that it removes small orders, good and bad.
Check what your store offers
I looked at how your store handles this. It lets you set a free shipping threshold and a standard shipping charge in settings. I did not find a setting that blocks checkout below a set amount, so a firm minimum is not something to promise yourself in the admin. What you can do is state it on your pages and handle the odd order by hand.
A softer approach with shipping
Instead of refusing small orders, charge for shipping on them and give free shipping above a threshold. The shopper decides. A small basket pays towards the courier and a bigger basket does not. See what is cart value and free shipping threshold and set free shipping threshold from margin.
When a minimum makes sense
- Your product is very low-priced and shipping is high relative to it.
- You sell wholesale or to shops, where lot size is part of the deal. See what is MOQ for sellers.
- You deliver locally and every trip has a fixed cost.
When to skip it
- Your products are mid or high priced, so most orders already cover costs.
- You are new and need first customers to try you.
- You can lift the basket with a small add-on or gentle suggestion. See how to recommend complementary products politely.
Test it with your numbers
Work out your cost per parcel and your profit per item. Find the basket where you start earning something after those costs. That figure is your natural floor. Then decide whether to enforce it, encourage it through the shipping line, or live with it for now.
Review a month of orders after changing anything. If you see many abandoned carts at the shipping step, you have learned something useful. Adjust, and write down what you changed.