Firing yet another salvo in the retail discount shipping wars, Target announced it is offering free shipping on “nearly all” orders over $50.
In a blog post, Jason Goldberger, senior vice president, Target.com and Mobile, says that “unlike some other online retailers” Target is differentiating by not excluding “a large percentage of our assortment – only a small number of heavy or oversized items like sofas.”
Amazon offers members of Amazon Prime free two-day shipping on more than 20 million items, unlimited instant streaming of movies and television shows with Prime Instant Video and free Kindle e-book rentals. Free shipping is available on orders of $35 or more for all customers shopping on Amazon.com.
In February 2014, Newegg launched a subscription-based program called Newegg Premier, which offers its 25 million registered customers benefits similar to Amazon Prime.
For an annual $49.99 fee, Newegg Premier members receive free expedited shipping, early-bird notifications for sales and events, no restocking fees, free returns, a dedicated customer service line and exclusive members-only deals.
Goldberger said in his blog post that Target shoppers expressed frustration and confusion over the company’s shipping policy, adding that the company’s own research showed that half of the shopping cart abandons on Target.com were related to shipping costs.
You can read the entire blog post here.