The majority of online retailers hope to entice shoppers this holiday season by offering free shipping, and almost half will offer it without conditions, a National Retail Federation study shows.
"It almost has become a cost of doing business for the holiday season," says Scott Silverman, executive director of NRF's Shop.org, which released the study with Shopzilla.com. "And it's not a real popular promotion with retailers, because it's expensive."
With consumer confidence at a two-year low, shoppers are looking for deals. For online shoppers, that's especially true of no-strings-attached free shipping, which 41 percent of Web retailers say they plan to offer. The share has been steadily increasing, from 36 percent last year and 25 percent two years ago. Two-thirds of online shoppers surveyed said it's their favorite holiday promotion.
Source: CRM Daily, http://www.crm-daily.com