61 of Top 100 e-Retailers Offering Free Shipping For The Holidays

As we are in the holiday season mix, the eCommerce section plays a huge part of holiday shopping, maybe more than ever as internet shopping increases yearly. As that happens, competition online gets more fierce and more promotions and offers must take place for ecommerce websites to compete against each other.

All you hear about lately is how large online retailers are offering free shipping for the holiday season. InternetRetailer.com reports that last year, 68 of the largest 100 internet retailers offered free shipping, so that number is down, nevertheless, it is more than half of the largest retailers that are offering free shipping. Many small business ecommerce websites depend on shipping fees to either cover the cost of the actual shipping or profit anywhere from $1-$15 on shipping depend on the shipping method.

The biggest news last week in the ecommerce/financial world was Walmart announcing free shipping on all orders for the holidays.

Free shipping is wording to entice the consumer to come and shop at your ecommerce site although if we take a closer look, many of the internet retailers offer free shipping with a minimum order price. Websites such as Scholastic, Drugstore.com, Walgreens.com and Amazon.com offered free shipping on all orders over $25.

What is surprising is more and more internet retailers are entering the membership program route which lets customers pay an annual fee for free shipping throughout the year. Amazon was one of the first to introduce this as well as sears is reportedly going this route as well.

Shipping plays a huge role in eCommerce. What are your shipping strategies?

Posted in eCommerce News