IKEA might have a great sofa at a very reasonable price. But if I decide to purchase that, I have to start worrying about getting it delivered to my home. However, if IKEA comes up with a free delivery option, it could lead to increased sales. It is akin to Amazon's free shipping for orders above $25. The cost of free shipping adds to the cost of the product indirectly. But, this added cost of free shipping, will bring in more revenue in the long run.
For eg: Endless.com is an online store (backed by Amazon.com) that sells shoes and handbags. Historically, people are not comfortable buying these items online because of obvious reasons (reasons being size of shoes that fit your feet, texture of handbag's leather, and so on). In order to help people overcome the mental block, endless.com gives $5 back to customers if they choose next day shipping.
Thus, if you are innovating a product where you are faced with hand holding your potential customer to cross over the hump (read mental block for trying your new innovative product), then you HAVE to consider that as a concrete REQUIREMENT for your product design. The cost of hand holding your customer to cross over the hump has to be considered while designing your product. If it means shaving off certain feature of your product to give away free shipping, then so be it. Because, it is free shipping that is going to convert visitors to customers. Once, they become comfortable with the concept of your new innovative product, and they buy into your concept (which is utmost important) then you can start reaping benefits from that sell.
