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This is the season of online shopping, especially if Amazon is your destination of choice. The mega online retailer has announced that it would offer free shipping on all holiday orders in time for Christmas, thereby removing the minimum purchase price, even if you are not a premium member. .
The company had previously set a threshold of $ 25 for orders to be eligible for free delivery, but Amazon will waive this requirement as of Monday, according to the company. Hundreds of millions of items will therefore be eligible for free shipping.
Premium members, who are already eligible for a two-day free shipping, will also receive a new benefit: over 3 million items will be available for same-day delivery during the holiday season.
This decision comes after Amazon's latest earnings report, where revenue rose 29 percent to $ 56.58 billion, but was below the $ 57.05 billion expected by analysts. Sales were $ 43.7 billion in the same period last year.
For the quarter ending in December, Amazon said it expects a turnover of between $ 66.5 and $ 72.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were counting on a $ 73.87 billion business figure.
Retailers can look forward to a solid holiday shopping party this year. Sales in November and December – excluding automobiles, gas and restaurants – are expected to increase 4.3% to 4.8% from 2017 to a total of $ 717.45 billion to $ 720.89 billion, according to the figures from the National Retail Federation.
"Thanks to a healthy economy and consumer confidence, we believe this holiday season will continue to reflect the growth recorded last year," the group said in a statement.
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