| Free shipping continues to be the #1 sales promotion device employed by the top 100 e-tailers, and the trend continues to expand steadily. In this mid-year re-survey of the field we've discovered that an astonishing 62% of online retailers now offer some form of free shipping. Tectonic Shifts in the Parcel Industry As the free shipping trend continues, the parcel carriers are experiencing at least two enormously consequential changes to their businesses. The percentage mix of residential-addressed versus commercial-addressed parcels is rapidly approaching the 50% mark. FedEx announced in its 4th Quarter FY2011 results that the SmartPost postal consolidator division has been experiencing 24% growth in daily volume, delivering an astounding 1.43 million parcels per day. Major e-tailers are clearly flocking to postal consolidators in order to remain competitive with free shipping offers. Download the PDF to see the full article, including charts! |
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