This holiday season, the computer may be the best place to start the week: The fifth annual Free Shipping Day will be Monday, Dec. 17, and it’s expected to rival its well-known cousin, Cyber Monday, according to an article on InternetRetailer.com.
Cyber Monday, the Monday following the post-Thanksgiving sales, is when Internet retailers offer their best deals of the Christmas season. Last year’s Cyber Monday generated $1.25 billion in sales, easily making it the top online sales day of the year. One thing that sets this online shopping day apart is that many retailers offer free shipping on purchases made that day.
Now, last-minute shoppers will have another chance later in the season — Dec. 17 — to benefit from free shipping with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve.
Last year, 2,600 retailers participated in Free Shipping Day on Dec. 16; it generated $1.072 billion in online sales, marking it as the sixth heaviest web shopping day of the 2011 holiday season.
This year, retailers who participate in Free Shipping Day will benefit from word-of-mouth buzz that will entice shoppers, says marketing website fresshippingday.org, which launched the Free Shipping Day.
But if you’re an online retailer, why not offer online free shipping all the time? Why not build the shipping costs into your price and offer it during the remainder of the year, not just on Cyber Monday? If free shipping significantly generates more sales, it’s obvious people are attracted to it. Just like you see with gas prices, where people will drive out of their way to save 2 cents a gallon, people will shop more when they see a perk like free shipping. If you offer free shipping, shoppers will probably purchase from you and they might even buy more.
Source: Internet Retailer, August 2012
