To no one’s great surprise, e-retailers entered November with prominent home-page displays of special offers ranging from free shipping on all orders to discounts of 50% off regular prices, according to a survey this week by Internet Retailer.
The survey compiled offers from the top 100 retailers as listed in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
60 of the top 100 sites offered free shipping of some kind, with most setting restrictions, such as requiring a minimum order value. Zappos.com, now a unit of Amazon.com Inc., and Shoebuy.com offer free shipping on all orders and returns; Blue Nile offers free shipping on all orders; Systemax, the company behind TigerDirect.com, CompUSA.com and CircuitCity.com, says it offers free shipping on most orders. J. Crew offers free shipping on all kids’ merchandise, and Peapod offers it to new customers for the first 60 days.
32 of the surveyed retailers set a minimum order value to qualify for free shipping, ranging from $10 at Barnes & Noble to $195 at Ralph Lauren and $699 at Dell. In most cases the minimum order value is around $50.
Sears is one retailer that sets multiple minimum order values for free shipping based on product type, such as $39 for apparel, $49 for footwear, luggage and toys, and $99 for electronics, fine jewelry and baby products.
Overstock.com is offering $1 shipping on all orders through Nov. 25, and Kohl’s offered shipping for 99 cents on all orders for a limited period from Nov. 3 through 5.
E-retailers are also seeking to lure value-conscious shoppers with home-page promotions,
71% of the sites prominently featured some kind of offer on the home page. 58% featured offers on specific items, or item categories, such as buy one pair of jeans, get a second pair half off at American Eagle Outfitters.
Fingerhut Direct Marketing was one retailer featuring a site-wide discount, as it offered 15% off all orders. Fingerhut vice president of e-commerce and digital marketing Mark Redetzke last year attributed a 2.9% fourth quarter web sales increase to the company’s timing of holiday discount offers.
Many retailers offered discounted price promotions as their main home-page display. Walmart.com displayed an “Amazing Online Specials” promotion as its central home page image; J.C. Penney displayed a “Biggest sale of them all” image and SonyStyle’s main home-page banner featured rotating discount offers.
Others offered more time-sensitive calls to action. Systemax, for instance, offered up to 41% offer during a 48-hour sale.
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