A holiday shopping tip: Go for free shipping
It isn't even Halloween and already I have a winter holiday shopping tip to share with you.
In what is shaping up to be a competitive retail season, you can expect to save money not only on discounted merchandise but on FREE shipping, as well. In fact, more than half of online retailers will offer free shipping -- and almost 50 percent of them won't dictate conditions, according to a National Retail Federation study.
"It almost has become a cost of doing business for the holiday season," says Scott Silverman, executive director of NRF's Shop.org, which released the study with Shopzilla.com.
Silverman also acknowledges merchants aren't happy about the pricey perk, even though consumers will likely be delighted. In fact, two-thirds of online shoppers say free shipping is their absolute favorite promotion.
"It's not a real popular promotion with retailers, because it's expensive," he says.
Some retailers plan to add some strings to the deal, offering free shipping only on certain items, for a specific numbers of items or after the customer spends a specific amount, typically $50.
But if sales melt before Santa loads his sleigh, expect those contingencies to vanish like the Ghost of Christmas Past.
In what is shaping up to be a competitive retail season, you can expect to save money not only on discounted merchandise but on FREE shipping, as well. In fact, more than half of online retailers will offer free shipping -- and almost 50 percent of them won't dictate conditions, according to a National Retail Federation study.
"It almost has become a cost of doing business for the holiday season," says Scott Silverman, executive director of NRF's Shop.org, which released the study with Shopzilla.com.
Silverman also acknowledges merchants aren't happy about the pricey perk, even though consumers will likely be delighted. In fact, two-thirds of online shoppers say free shipping is their absolute favorite promotion.
"It's not a real popular promotion with retailers, because it's expensive," he says.
Some retailers plan to add some strings to the deal, offering free shipping only on certain items, for a specific numbers of items or after the customer spends a specific amount, typically $50.
But if sales melt before Santa loads his sleigh, expect those contingencies to vanish like the Ghost of Christmas Past.
posted by Eileen Smith at 8:54 PM
1 Comments:
I jump for the free shipping every time. But I find that I want to return things I buy online more often because I haven't seen or touched them -- but I keep them because returns are hassle. So I think "free" shipping works out well for the seller.
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