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October 17 2008
Amazon and Tesco target Xmas gift buyers with free shipping — but M&S drops its delivery offer
Amazon.co.uk has dropped its eligibility requirements for free shipping to only £5 whilst Tesco Direct is introducing free delivery to stores on orders of £25 and above and to homes on orders over £50. Marks and Spencer, though, has dropped the free shipping on all orders it introduced last month. Is free delivery set to be the online battleground this Christmas?
Amazon has dropped its eligibility requirements for free Super Saver Delivery to £5 from its normal £15 in a bid to maximise Christmas sales. On Thursday, the front page of Amazon.co.uk was devoted to a letter to customers announcing the eligibility cut from founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and, in an email to affiliates earlier this week, the company explained that:
We are excited to announce that we are significantly reducing the minimum purchase for Super Saver Delivery, our FREE delivery programme. Starting today, you only need to add £5 worth of eligible items to your basket to get free delivery. That's a two-thirds reduction from the previous minimum of £15. And best of all, it is just in time for Christmas shopping.
"It is to get people lifted for Christmas," says Amazon UK managing director Brian McBride. "Times are tough out there and this will come as a welcome bonus for people."
Tesco Direct is also improving its shipping options. It has introduced free delivery to stores for all orders over £25 and free home deliveries on orders over £50. It's also tackling Argos head on by highlighting on the home page of its website that it has "Faster and cheaper delivery than Argos" and that white goods are delivered in two to three days.
Marks and Spencer, meanwhile, introduced free delivery on all orders during September, in a move that looked as though it was going to be permanent. But it has now gone back to its traditional 'free shipping on orders over £30' offer.
In the US, free shipping offers have become the norm during the Christmas shopping period — a Shop.org survey found that 37% of retailers offered it without conditions last year whilst 71% offered free shipping with conditions. This year, though, US analysts say many retailers will place limits on free shipping, such as offering it only to their credit card holders or raising the minimum purchase requirement.
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