One of the most prevalent holiday season promotions used by online retailers is free shipping, which typically peaks around the Cyber Monday period.
FORBES: Online Holiday Sales Hit Nearly $6 Billion for the Week
Considering that Wal-Mart is offering free shipping for all items, the shipping costs could be a large part of revenues if people take advantage and a buy lot of small value items.
Best Buy, whose Q3 results were, well, pretty bad with a 20% drop in profits, is offering free shipping this weekend along with all the other online retailers trolling for last minute shoppers. (Those same Q3 figures, by the way, showed that its online channel delivered a 20% increase in revenues compared to the same period a year earlier).
This is where your free shipping offers will kick in to bring in deals earlier.
FORBES: The Shock Of Cyber Monday: The Secret To Understanding Consumer Behavior
Shipping is free in the U.S. The site also provides an online encyclopedia with sections such as general health concerns, herbal remedies, and drug interactions.
For comparison, Threadflip takes up to 20% commission, while 99 Dresses is free but users pay for shipping.
FORBES: Saying Yes to Selling the Dress, Tradesy Tackles the Trendy Bridal Re-Commerce Market
Its free shipping policy is one of its major attractions.
FORBES: Amazon Hits $200 If Free Cash Flow Creeps Up To 10% Of Revenue
The free-shipping program is meant to put more coins into day-to-day use.
What will remain unknown until retailers report their financial year end results is whether the aggressive pricing and free shipping offers came at the cost of lower margins.
FORBES: Holiday Online Spending Up 15% For New Record, 10 Days Surpass $1 Billion
More than 1, 000 merchants participate in Free Shipping Day, which is Monday, December 17, 2012.
The free two-day shipping is a terrible temptation for impulse buyers, however, as Amazon is only too aware.
FORBES: Good News For Amazon Prime Members: 'Harry Potter' Coming Soon To The Kindle Library
It is not uncommon for retailers to tout free shipping benefits, but then charge a higher price per item to cover their expenses as a result of the shipping policy.
FORBES: 7 Tips For Avoiding Shipping Costs When Shopping Online
Amazon users get the bonus of free shipping on purchases but Netflix is available on more devices.
FORBES: Epix Deal Narrows Differences Between Amazon And Netflix Streaming
Wal-Mart may improve its sales by offering free shipping, but if there is no minimum purchase amount, small value purchases could lead to the retailer bearing higher expenses relative to sales.
He writes that Wal-Mart is still the price leader for general merchandise, but adds that prices are equivalent when sales taxes are included and with free shipping for Amazon Prime members is used.
FORBES: Amazon.com: Kicking The Crap Out Of Wal-Mart And Target
Because I am an Amazon Prime member, I get free 2-day shipping and Amazon is still not collecting California sales tax, which I am supposed to pay on my own.
This smartphone is also available at www.boostmobile.com with free shipping.
ENGADGET: Boost Mobile announces 'Shrinkage' plans, cost goes down over time
FreedomPop, the disruptive free wireless Internet company, today announced it is now shipping its highly anticipated iPod touch 4G Sleeve, which until today has been limited to pre-orders only.
Shipping 35-70 rupees, and is free to the customer.
FORBES: The Growing Pains of Indian E-Commerce: What You Need to Know
One way to find out if it can work for you is to do some math to find out how offering free shipping will impact your bottom line while also considering the benefits of offering this perk to your customers.
Also, online competitors who are currently shipping these lower dollar purchases for free are subsidizing the freight and this is not a sustainable practice, so it is only necessary for Best Buy to weather the storm until online retailers discontinue this practice.
Apart from international shipping, Bolivia is also making a bid for seagoing and riverborne trade within Mercosur, the South American free-trade group.
应用推荐