The ticking clock for Dec. 25 delivery is winding down for online retailers, but many merchants are not going quietly into the post-holiday zone.
Guaranteed delivery via ground shipping ended last week for most retailers, pushing express and expedited shipping options to the fore. Emails and eye-catching countdown clock or banners on home pages aim to make sure consumers know how much time they have left if they want gifts to arrive by Christmas.
A countdown clock greets visitors to Ann Inc.’s Ann Taylor site, ticking off the seconds left to order for delivery by Christmas Eve. Ann Inc. is No. 94 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide. Shoppers have until 3 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday to order and use next-day shipping to ensure Dec. 24 delivery.
Jeweler Tiffany & Co. (No. 131) on Tuesday morning sent emails to consumers with a reminder that they’ll receive free shipping on orders placed by 3 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday with delivery by Dec. 25. Clicking the email takes shoppers to a page titled “Holiday Heroes” featuring last-minute gift ideas and a note about complimentary shipping. The shipping policy also is highlighted on Tiffany’s home page, which has a “Holiday Countdown” theme.
Lands’ End (No. 38) featured a “Get it by Christmas” banner with a free shipping upgrade on orders $50 or more if ordered by midnight Monday. It also had a countdown clock on the home page to show remaining time to get free delivery by Dec. 24, but now the UPS Express shipping option estimates, not guarantees delivery by Dec. 24-25. Messaging on the Gifts page of the website promotes digital gift cards that arrive instantly or can be scheduled.
Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1) gives shoppers until Tuesday to place their orders for two-day Prime shipping and Wednesday for one-day shipping. On Christmas Eve, Prime members can receive free same-day shipping in 16 metro areas on qualifying orders over $35, and Prime Now will offer two-hour deliveries on eligible items in Prime Now cities, which include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and others. Amazon says more than 1 million items are eligible for Prime Now delivery, a fraction of the more than 350 million SKUs available on Amazon.com, according to Forrester Research.
In-stock Star Wars and other Legos will arrive under shoppers’ tree in time if they were ordered from the Lego Brand Retail Inc. (No. 115) site using Express Saver shipping (via FedEx) by noon Monday. Orders placed by noon Tuesday using Express shipping (also FedEx) also will arrive by Dec. 25.
Best Buy Co. (No. 14) gave free upgrades to two-day shipping on orders placed through Tuesday morning. After that and until 10:30 a.m. Central on Wednesday, customers had to choose Express delivery for guaranteed delivery, or they could opt for free in-store pickup on orders placed through 4 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve, with pickup by 6 p.m.
At Sears Holdings Corp. (No. 5), the cut-off date for Christmas arrival is Tuesday, the same as last year. On Monday, Sears for the first time offered flat shipping rates for expedited ($7.97) and rush ($10.97) shipping with delivery by Christmas. “This is the first year we’re doing it as another way for customers to receive their orders before Christmas,” a spokesman says.
Sears’ mobile app now lets shoppers in Sears stores get free shipping on items not available at that store. “If a shopper is looking for a different color or size of an item that’s not in-store, they can simply open the Sears mobile app, find the item they want and get free shipping on orders placed while in-store (when location services are enabled),” a spokesman says.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (No. 3) customers can order online as late as Tuesday for rush deliveries and as late as 6 p.m. local time Wednesday for in-store pickup.
Apparel retailer Aeropostale guaranteed Christmas delivery for products ordered through Monday. If an item arrives late, shoppers can call customer service by Dec. 28 and receive full credit for the item.
While a guaranteed credit is nice, customers don’t want to do extra work to get it, says Satish Jindel founder and president of SJ Consulting Group. “Retailers should give shoppers an easy way to do it, and then they will get the sale and customers will feel better about ordering express shipping,” says Jindel. SJ Consulting is a sister company of software developer ShipMatrix Inc., a provider of shipping software that analyzes on-time delivery rates for millions of packages delivered from more than 1,000 shipper customers.
Retailers should set expectations and tell customers, especially those who procrastinate, that if they order by 4 p.m., for example, that their items will ship that day or the next, Jindel says, and merchants can automate the process to monitor deliveries and receive credits from carriers that fail to deliver on time. Express shipping on-time rates are little reason for concern at the moment, as major carriers are in the high-90s with their on-time rates. As of Monday, Express service for UPS was at 96.1%, FedEx Express at 98.9% and last-mile Express from the U.S. Postal Service at 99.3%, he says.
But startup online marketplace Jet.com has stopped taking orders for delivery by Christmas, blaming “nationwide shipping delays.”
At the top of its home page, Jet has a “Will my product get to me on time?” banner where shoppers can click for more information and see this message: “This year’s holiday gift rush has led to nationwide shipping delays that have affected many of our fulfillment partners. We are committed to creating the best possible experience for our customers, so we wanted to let you know that we can no longer confidently guarantee delivery by December 25th for any items not flagged as eligible for 2-day delivery. Thanks for shopping with us as we go through our very first holiday season. Whether it be this year or next, we hope to see you here again soon. Happy holidays.”
Meanwhile, Jet is moving on to marketing products for New Year’s Eve and 2016. An email sent Monday had the subject line “Dress to Impress,” touting shoes and accessories for a festive New Year’s celebration.