Amazon Extends Deadline for Free Holiday Shipping
Amazon.com announced Tuesday it is extending the order deadline for customers to get free delivery by Christmas. Shoppers placing an order before December 19th will qualify after the change for Amazon's Super Saver Shipping Program, available for any order of $25 or more. Furthermore, the online retail giant will guarantee delivery by Christmas for those customers, as well. The extension of the deadline for the program was a response to a large number of US retailers who have taken to offering free shipping to boost sales leading up to Christmas Day.
According to a recent Big Research survey undertaken under the direction of the National Research Foundation, 87 percent of US retailers have set a deadline of December 20th or sooner to ensure delivery by Christmas morning. Largely to compete with Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, dozens of chains have also began offering free shipping or lowered the minimum order size for existing free shipping programs, mostly as temporary measures that will expire after the holidays.
Nordstrom, for example, began offering free shipping with no conditions over the summer, while Macy's lowered its free shipping minimum order size to $75 for Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving when online sellers run sales to take advantage of the biggest e-commerce day of the year.
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