The importance of “intelligent shipping” to Internet retailers is underlined by a recent report indicating that the number of online stores offering “free shipping on everything” will decline this holiday shopping season. According to the 2008 eHoliday Study, conducted by Shopzilla® for Shop.org, approximately one in ten online retailers plan to reduce their use of unconditional free shipping offers.
While the percentage of online retailers offering shoppers “free shipping with conditions” at some point during this year’s holiday shopping season (78%) is about the same as last year, one fifth of online retailers say they will require “a higher purchase amount for customers to be eligible for free shipping.”
This trend underlines the need to personalize and target intelligent shipping offers that are based on a range of factors, including shipping zone, ZIP code, cart size, brand, purchase frequency, and other behaviors.
