E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that they will forego their $25 spending minimum for shipping this holiday season and make all shipments free. For pre-existing ‘prime’ members that already have free shipping, more than 3 million items will be eligible for one-day delivery. The goal is to increase sales and the number of prime members.
An Adobe Analytics study showed that this year, online spending in the United States around the holidays is expected increase 14.8 percent. This accounts for over $124 billion in sales. This is far more than the 2.7 percent increase expected for physical store locations.
The most-cited reasons as to why customers prefer to shop online were:
– Can be done in comfort at home
– No lines/crowds
– Can read customer reviews
– Able to compare prices quickly
Statistica studies show that by 2021, the number of digital shoppers in the United States is expected to be over 230 million. That is over 20 million more online shoppers than there were in 2016.
While some physical stores may see the digital wave as a challenge, the Managing Owner of Voltage Video Games in Syracuse points out the positives of increased competition.
“Online shopping keeps us honest and fair, giving us a competitor on many products where we have few to no local competitors at this point. As much as it might be annoying at times, it makes us a better store when we have more competition, including from platforms like Amazon. I would say if you can offer a good product, that can be picked up today from a friendly salesperson at a similar price to what’s online, you will do just fine more times than not,” said Mike Saltzman.
This holiday season is different, as there is an extra day between ‘Cyber Monday’ and Christmas. The additional day is expected to increase online sales by nearly $284 million.
