In just over a week, Kmart’s 30-second “Ship My Pants” spot — go ahead, say it quickly — has received close to 13 million …
shipping
Amazon Gets More Same-Day-Delivery Competition: Shutl Coming to 20 Cities
Do you want some stuff, but don’t want to leave the couch? A new same-day delivery service promises near-instant gratification for millions of online shoppers all over North America.
So You Want More Free Shipping? You Got It
If there’s one thing e-retailers hate, it’s shopping cart abandonment. Shoppers fill up their virtual carts and then fail to follow through on the purchase quite frequently. While there are many reasons why this happens, one of …
On the Great Lakes, a Dry Summer Slows a Recovering Shipping Industry
Low water levels on the Mississippi River, which have snarled cargo traffic and completely halted hundreds of barges at a time, got most of the media attention during this year’s arid summer. But the weird weather is also having …
Your E-mail In-Box Is About to Be Swamped. Happy Holidays!
Warm up your “delete” button. A new study about retailer e-mail trends shows that stores are sending messages to subscribers earlier in the season—well before the season even begins, actually, in many shoppers’ eyes. The …
As Barges Sit Idle Along the Mississippi, the Economic Costs Grow
Close to 100 tows sit motionless in the shriveled Mississippi River along an 11-mile stretch outside of Greenville, Miss. For every day a single towboat sits idle, it costs about $10,000. So when you’ve got at least 97 of them …
The Not-So-Mighty Mississippi: How the River’s Low Water Levels Are Impacting the Economy
For those who make their living along the Mississippi River, helping ship many of the country’s most vital commodities, this year’s drought has inevitably raised the specter of 1988. That’s when the river got so low that …
We’re in the Middle of a Record-Setting Week for Returning Online Purchases
Especially around the holidays, retailers love to coin names for gimmicky sales events—Green Monday and Cyber Week, to name a couple examples. Funny: So far, no one has come up with an official name for this week, which is …
Holiday Spending: Just How Important Is Free Shipping to Online Shoppers?
Increasingly, online shoppers won’t complete their orders unless free shipping is part of the deal. Nearly two-thirds of online purchases last week were shipped for free.
Amazon Prime Loses $11 Annually Per Member … And It’s a Huge Success
Membership in Amazon Prime—the online retail giant’s packaged service that includes free two-day shipping on all orders, free streaming of online movies and TV shows, and one free Kindle book to borrow monthly—costs $79 a …
Does It Make Any Sense to Pay for Free Shipping?
Paying $79 a year allows you to order as much and as often as you want online, with unlimited two-day shipping at no addition cost.
More Drop-Dead Online Holiday Shopping Deadlines Than You Could Possibly Need
Not one, not two, but three round-ups of retailer deadlines for placing online orders that are guaranteed to arrive by December 24.
