Target looks to drive online sales with free delivery promotional deal

While a number of big-name retailers have recently been trying to manage their customers’ expectations on free shipping – by raising the minimum spend requirement to a cost-effective level, for example – many still find that “free shipping on every order” can be a useful limited-time promotional tool when they are trying to create online retail events. US retail giant Target, for example is currently running a two-week promotion (2-15 August) offering “free shipping & returns on every order” made online, as well as “free same-day store pick-up” for all online orders.  Upgrades are, of course, available, with options for express (one-day) and premium (two-day) shipping – although Target does not specify costs on its offers page.

The first half of August is traditionally the time of year when “back to school shopping” tends to intensify in the US. Target also ran a free shipping promotion last year, and it says that it did bring a significant sales boost.

As US observers point out, it is interesting that Target is prepared to lead with these free-shipping-for-every order promotions, because the company was more reluctant than many of its competitors to introduce free shipping in the first place –  and then it took some persuading to drop the minimum order threshold from $50 to its current level of $25.