Free Shipping Day — Last Chance To Shop Online For Christmas Or Just Another Retail Gimmick?
Free Shipping Day is December 18, but is it actually the last day for consumers to shop online if they want to get their orders delivered in time for Christmas? For procrastinators who haven’t even started their holiday shopping yet, many retailers are giving extra time to order online, but most of the free shipping offers will end this week.
Thousands of retailers, including both big-box stores and small online sellers, will be offering free shipping on Thursday, with the promise of delivery by December 24. However, even if your order goes out on time, there’s always the possibility that it will be delayed by the shipping company due to weather or, even worse, an accident. This week, FOX News reported two major FedEx delivery truck accidents — one in New Jersey and the other in Georgia — in which hundreds of packages were spilled onto the highway, causing some consumers to experience not only delivery delays, but possible damage to the items in the boxes.
Your gifts might be lying on a stretch of I-75 near Macon. A big FedEx truck overturned http://t.co/1LZpcFmfSm pic.twitter.com/sqJXxg4ees
— Jeff Ofgang (@jeffnews) December 16, 2014
If you must shop online and don’t have time to get to a brick-and-mortar store to do your Christmas shopping, the perks offered on Free Shipping Day may come in handy, provided deliveries by UPS, USPS and FedEx go smoothly from now until Christmas Eve.
Amazon is giving their customers an extra day to use free shipping, making December 19, one day after Free Shipping Day, the cutoff for those who don’t want to pay to ship their orders. The e-retailer is offering same day shipping in some areas if you’re daring enough to shop on Christmas Eve.
Target is offering free shipping on everything not only on December 18, but during the entire holiday shopping season. If you want to get your order to your door in time for Christmas, order by December 19. BFAds reports that Best Buy is offering delivery in time for Christmas for orders placed by 3 p.m. ET on December 20. Get free shipping on thousands of items on orders of $35 or more.
Hoping to get free shipping on your Walmart purchases? The cutoff for free shipping with an order of $50 or more is December 17, making Free Shipping Day not so free at Walmart this year. If you miss the deadline, you will have to pay standard shipping rates and order by December 19 to get your purchased delivered by Christmas Eve.
Free Shipping Day may be a way for retailers to get extra online sales, but it’s also the end of the road for most holiday shoppers who don’t want to pay steep shipping fees to get their orders delivered on-time.
Will you be doing any last-minute Christmas shopping online or will you head out to the crowded stores to purchase the remaining items on your holiday gift list?
[Image: PlayBuzz]
