Free and discounted shipping drive later online holiday sales
Even as it gets late in the game for consumers’ holiday shopping, online merchants are adding new twists to their sales strategies to sustain momentum into the final days of the season. At Overstock.com, consumers spent $16.6 million in the first 14 days of December, a 192% increase over the same period last year. The high volume has helped Overstock negotiate shipping rates that will allow it to extend discounted priority mail shipping on orders placed late into this week on most of its 70,000-product offering.
Under the promotion, applicable to items on the web site flagged with an icon of Santa’s sleigh, shoppers pay $6.95 for three-day shipping via priority mail on orders placed by mid-day Dec. 18 and $9.95 on two-day priority mail shipping on orders placed by mid-day Dec. 19. On other sites, the shipping charge on three-day delivery under priority mail is $12.95. Premium shipping is available on orders placed even later, at higher prices.
“Our warehouse has performed magnificently keeping up with incoming orders. That is enabling us to accommodate last-minute shopping this week and still guarantee delivery before Christmas with discounted priority shipping on most of our products,” says CEO Patrick Byrne.
At eBags, the brands are picking up a share of the cost of expedited shipping, says vice president of marketing Peter Cobb. EBags is offering customers free upgrades to second-day air shipment through Dec. 19, splitting the cost with brands it promotes on its site and through e-mail marketing. Under the promotion, says Cobb, the brands swap getting slightly less margin for a higher volume of sales. “Most of the brands we asked have participated, and it’s been very successful,” notes Cobb. EBags sales were up 85% in the first two weeks of December over the same two weeks a year ago. Dec. 17 and 18, when sales were up more than 180% over the same days last year, were the highest sales days in the company’s history, Cobb adds.
Even custom-made goods are available for last-minute shopping with delivery by Christmas. Gateway Inc. is promising customers that orders for custom-built Gateway computers placed by noon Eastern time Friday will arrive by Christmas. “With six fewer shopping days this year, many customers find themselves in a last-minute squeeze; our holiday delivery guarantee is a great option for them," said David Turner, Gateway`s senior vice president of sales and marketing.
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