Amazon heats up holiday delivery wars

11/5/2018
Amazon is determined not about to let traditional retailers like Walmart and Target get the best of it this holiday season.

For the first time, the online giant is offering free shipping on all holiday orders with no minimum order required. (There is typically a $25 minimum for non-Prime members.) Amazon is making the free delivery service available until it can no longer promise items will arrive in time for Christmas with free delivery. Items shipped with free delivery typically arrive between five to eight business days.

Amazon’s free holiday delivery comes as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have beefed up their own holiday delivery strategies. Target will offer free two-day shipping to all customers, with no minimum purchase and no membership requirement. The offer runs from Nov. 1 until Dec. 22.

Walmart recently announced that “millions of items” sold on its marketplace are eligible for free two-day shipping on orders over $35. The service, which does not require a membership, will launch in mid-November. This is in addition to the to more than two million items sold online that are also eligible for free shipping when orders surpass $35. No membership fee applies.

Amazon said its new holiday offer applies to “hundreds of millions” of items. This service complements free same-day delivery available to Prime members, as well as free grocery deliveries that arrive within an hour from Whole Foods Market through Prime Now.
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