you’ve got your tickets. you’ve planned all your side trips. you’ve even packed your bags. but have you packed all those gifts you need to take with you to your destination this holiday season? yikes! don’t worry, though … you can ship virtually everything!
you've heard of black friday and cyber monday. now there is free shipping day, a one day online shopping event on dec. 17, when participating merchants offer free shipping to their customers with guaranteed delivery by christmas.
though the economy is still sluggish, more people plan to buy their holiday gifts online, according to the results of the most recent e-customer service index (ecsi), which indicates that 93 percent of people intend to surf the net for presents this holiday season. more than 71 percent are prepared to complete at least half of their christmas shopping online. free shipping day founder luke knowles says the level of interest in the second annual free shipping day shows that retailers have high hopes for the online holiday shopping.
more than 300 merchants have already signed up for this year's event and founder luke knowles expects more than 500 merchants will participate. merchants like toys r us, jcpenney, apple store, nike, sears, babies r us, eddie bauer, pacsun, petsmart, and adidas have confirmed they will be involved.
“merchants who participated in last year’s first free shipping day received such a tremendous response they almost immediately committed to being involved in this year’s event,” said knowles, whose site, freeshipping.org, is a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. “a growing number of retailers have contacted us to participate in free shipping day, thanks to all the media attention it has received."
black friday and cyber monday have become household names in the holiday shopping vocabulary. free shipping day is emerging as a widely known event among cost-conscious consumers during the holiday shopping season. in fact, free shipping day is the third part of the holiday shopping event trifecta.
“free shipping day is unique because it extends the holiday shopping season for merchants and allows shoppers who procrastinate to still find a good deal online,” knowles said.
knowles hatched the idea for free shipping day just two weeks before the event last december. in a sudden brainstorm, he thought that merchants would relish the opportunity to extend online holiday shopping, which typically peaks around dec. 10 because consumers are concerned about their gift orders arriving in time for christmas.
knowles expected a favorable response from retailers and consumers last year, but didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest the event actually received. freeshippingday.com had 250,000 unique visitors in a 10-day period, including more than 100,000 on the day itself. regional and national media outlets (including woman’s day, smart money, oprah.com and numerous newspapers and tv stations) covered the event.
free shipping day is a one day online shopping event on dec. 17, when participating merchants offer free shipping to their customers with guaranteed delivery by christmas. participating merchants include toys r us, jcpenney, apple store, nike, sears, babies r us, eddie bauer, pacsun, petsmart, and adidas. for more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.
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