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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Third annual Free Shipping Day slated for December 17: Created to extend the online holiday shopping season for merchants and give procrastinating consumers one final chance to surf the Internet for gifts, the event expects to attract more than 1,000 retailers this year

Black Friday and Cyber Monday once again have company in the holiday shopping season. The third annual Free Shipping Day is set for Friday, December 17, 2010.

Free Shipping Day is a one day shopping event when participating merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve. Luke Knowles - who created the popular shopping web site FreeShipping.org with his wife, Maisie, in 2007 - hatched the idea for Free Shipping Day just two weeks before the event in December 2008. In an abrupt brainstorm, he thought that retailers would relish the opportunity to extend the online holiday shopping season, which typically peaks in early December because consumers are concerned about their gift orders arriving to their intended destination in time for Christmas.

Knowles expected a favorable response from retailers and consumers that first year, but he didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that the event actually received. Free Shipping Day attracted more than 250 merchants and the FreeShippingDay.com web site saw 250,000 hits in a 10-day period, including 100,000 on the actual day itself. Word spread among national media outlets and blogs, and last year more than 750 merchants that participated, drawing 450,000 visitors to the website, including 232,000 on Free Shipping Day itself. Knowles estimates that about 35,000 sales were registered on the site among participating retailers on Free Shipping Day last December.
“We have reached a point where consumers are expecting free shipping when they shop online, but in many cases it is offered when you purchase a certain amount, such as $50 or $100,” Knowles said. “To make Free Shipping Day even more unique, we are encouraging retailers to offer free shipping on all orders.”

Knowles projects that more than 1,000 retailers will participate in this year’s Free Shipping Day. Merchants that participated in last years event include Macy's, Kohl's, Dell, Toys R Us, Jcpenney, Sears, Ralph Lauren and Eddie Bauer.

“We consulted with merchants who participated last year to choose the most ideal date for this year’s Free Shipping Day,” Knowles said. “Since the 18th will be a busy offline shopping day since it is the last Saturday before Christmas, we believe that Friday the 17th will be convenient because people can shop from their homes and their offices.”

Free Shipping Day is becoming part of our nation’s holiday shopping vocabulary, serving as the final event in the holiday shopping trifecta. 

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Free Shipping Day is a one day shopping event when participating merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve. The third annual event will be held this year on Friday, December 17. For more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.

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