Big Retail Pushes “Free Shipping” as Holiday Shopping Ends

The holiday shopping marathon that began at the start of November and will end in less than a week has become a sprint. As retailers face having only days to improve their sales results, they have turned to a part of their playbook that did not even exist a few years ago — free shipping. The tactic is particularly critical to e-commerce business. Put simply — people cannot buy what they cannot get their hands on.

Like most retailers with an online presence, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has several levels of free shipping and has decided to pressure customers with the message that the chances to use the service are about to come to an end. Orders from Walmart.com of $35 or more can still ship free via standard delivery, which takes as much as five days. Tardy shoppers have to pay a premium to get “rush shipping” until December 22. The price for the privilege is high enough that Walmart does not post it. As the retailer says, “prices vary per item.”

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has focused its “free shipping” program on a select group of items rather than on all the inventory it sells:

Beginning on December 18, 2013, at 12:00 a.m. PST, select products are available with FREE One-Day Shipping within the continental U.S. when purchased from Amazon.com. Simply add a qualifying product to your Shopping Cart and select One-Day Shipping before completing an order. The shipping discount will be applied at checkout.

Most, if not all, of the categories that apply are ones that contain expensive products — jewelry, video games, PCs and consumer electronics.

Best Buy Co. Inc.’s (NYSE: BBY) cut-off for free shipping, which it defines as a service that delivers in three business days, is December 30 at 3 p.m. To catch shoppers who want to wait to buy and are willing to pay extra for the privilege, Best Buy offers express shipping up until the 22nd at 1 p.m. EST.

Second-tier retailers have followed the lead of their larger peers. On the homepages of Target.com, Macys.com and JCPenney.com is “free shipping” if you order today.