2009 Holiday Free Shipping Day Set for eTailers

Who hasn't waited until the last minute to purchase a holiday gift? I thought so. And with so many people strapped for cash this holiday season, they will be looking for every way they can to save a buck.

If you run an online store, you need to sieze any opportunity you can to make more sales. One way you can do that is to join hundreds of other online merchants by participating in the 2009 Holiday Free Shipping Day scheduled for December 17, 2009.

According to a news release, last year procrastinators and retailers alike embraced the inaugural Free Shipping Day, which represents the last possible 24-hour period when online shoppers can place their orders with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. From Bloomingdale’s, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s to Victoria’s Secret, Williams-Sonoma and Zappos.com, more than 250 retailers participated in last year’s Free Shipping Day and the number is expected to top 500 this year.

For larger merchants, the event provides an additional forum to increase sales without having to draw customers into their physical locations. Some small online retailers set a single-day record for traffic because of their participation. The presence of their respective logos on the Free Shipping Day web site created substantial exposure the businesses otherwise would not have seen.

Businesses can participate free of charge in Free Shipping Day and have their logo and free shipping offer posted on the home page of FreeShippingDay.com by visiting the site and filling out a form.

“Even though we have good intentions to get our holiday shopping done early, we as consumers tend to wait until the last second because of our busy lives,” Luke Knowles, the event founder said. “Free Shipping Day is the perfect shopping event for procrastinators, and retailers love the idea because it extends the online holiday shopping season since consumers know that they can place an order on December 17 and it will arrive at the intended destination by Christmas Eve day.”