Amazon offering free shipping to all customers for the holidays



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Amazon will not be put away by brick and mortar stores during the holidays.

The e-commerce giant is offering all customers free shipping from November 5th. Amazon did not specify when the promotion would end, but termed the duration of "limited".

This is the first time in recent memory that Amazon is deleting the minimum order requirement minimally for its level of free super-saver shipping, which has grown over the years, passing from a maximum of $ 49 to a current minimum of $ 25.

It may be because Amazon has felt the need to compete with big box stores, to which are also offered free delivery promotions. Specifically, Target announced that it was offering all of its customers a free two-day shipping until December 22, with no minimum order. Best Buy has also removed its free shipping threshold for holidays, but gives no guarantee of time.

Amazon Prime members still receive two days of shipping, but the free delivery promotional offer is only valid for Amazon's shipping speed.

Amazon has apparently reacted to the pressure of its rivals before. The $ 49 free shipping threshold did not last long after Walmart unveiled its two – day free shipping policy with each order of at least $ 35 in January 2017. Following Walmart's change, the threshold was lowered twice that same year: $ 35, and then the current non-promotional threshold of $ 25.

The war of online shoppers for the end of the year is already well underway and Amazon is preparing to win the lion's share of online shopping again this season.

Most of this year's sales growth is expected to come from online shopping. Forrester Research expects online sales growth of 14%, but only 1.7% in stores. Analysts have estimated that Amazon had absorbed nearly half of all online retail sales in 2017, and that this would represent even more this year.

Forrester estimates that online vacation sales will account for over 32% of all online sales of the year.

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