Free delivery a prescription for Christmas orders

To encourage customers to shop in the run-up to Christmas, e-tailers are introducing new seasonal products, Christmas promotions and festive packaging. However, it turns out that what often determines an e-store purchase decision is free delivery. An example? On last year's Free Delivery Day, the number of transactions in stores using Shoper software tripled.

While the pre-Christmas preparations in stores start with a jog in October, the real run begins in late November. This year, the last week of November is even a shopping marathon: Black Friday on November 25, immediately after the weekend Cyber Monday and immediately on Tuesday Free Delivery Day.

- All these shopping bargains have been promoted in Poland by online stores. Black Friday has been gaining popularity for the past two years and has also moved to the big stationary players. Awareness of Cyber Monday is only in its infancy, but the Free Delivery Day in Polish e-commerce has a well-established tradition. Since 2000, more and more stores and customers have taken part in it every year," assesses Tomasz Tybon, director of marketing and sales at Dreamcommerce, a provider of Shoper ready-to-use online store software.

Free delivery tempts e-customers

Based on data from stores, Shoper reports that last year one in seven of them took part in Free Delivery Day. On that day, stores' turnover doubled and the number of transactions tripled. Another one in ten stores, meanwhile, offered free delivery before the holidays. According to the Deloitte Holiday Survey 2016, the free delivery policy is extremely important for pre-Christmas shopping, with 71 percent of e-customers counting on it. Free delivery is only followed by factors such as easy returns (48 percent) and the lowest price guarantee (44 percent).

To avoid paying for delivery, customers are willing to spend more on their purchases. According to a study by CFI Group, 91 percent of online shoppers are willing to add more products to their shopping cart if it guarantees them free delivery. - Customers increasingly expect free delivery options, a global trend. Sellers should work to reduce costs and delivery times, especially in industries where product prices are comparable across stores. Eliminating paid delivery is also another step to minimize the gap between online and offline shopping, in favor of online stores. And according to U.S. media reports, already this year Americans plan to spend the same amount in both channels, comments Tomasz Tybon.

Fast delivery much faster than it used to be

The growth of e-commerce has influenced customer expectations - according to Deloitte, this year consumers consider delivery of purchases within a maximum of 2 days to be "speedy delivery," while just a year ago, they considered delivery of up to 3-4 days to be such. They are also willing to pay extra for speed, but only if it means receiving the order the same or next day. 64 percent of customers would not pay extra for delivery in 2 or more days.