The American Eagle website AE.com has been down for three days. To show their loyal shoppers that they truly are sorry about being down, American Eagle is offering free shipping on all orders until Sunday, July 25th. Shoppers need to enter the American Eagle coupon code 74936062 at checkout.
Amazon Prime Free for College Students
Free Shipping with Amazon Student
Just in time for Back to School shopping, Amazon is offering free Amazon Prime for one year to college students. The service gives students one full year of free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime and email alerts for special discounts. Non-students have to pay $79 per year for Amazon Prime.
To sign-up for Amazon Student, students need to be enrolled in a college or university and have a valid .edu email address to confirm the verification email.
This is a very smart move on Amazon’s part, as it should get young people to start using Amazon for most of their online shopping.
I am curious as to whether students who enroll in Amazon Student will automatically have to start paying for Amazon Prime after the first year is up. I would hope not, as $79 is a lot of money for a college student.
Do you think competitors like Sears will follow suit and offer free ShipVantage to college students?
Comments Off
more...
Emerging Trend: Free Shipping Both Ways on Shoes
Free shipping both ways on shoes
One of the biggest trends in online shopping over the past couple years is shoe stores offering free shipping and free returns to it’s shoppers.
One of the most important decisions to make when buying shoes is the size of the shoes. Picking the right size can be tough to do when shopping online because shoppers are unable to try shoes on and every brand can be different. By offering free shipping both ways, retailers entice more shoppers to buy shoes online. If they buy the wrong size, the shopper can easily return the shoes for the right size at no cost to themselves.
Zappos started the trend in 2005 with free shipping and returns. Soon after the other major online shoe retailers like Piperlime and Shoes.com had to follow suit to compete. Shoe retailers like Famous Footwear and Payless Shoes with physical stores do not offer free online returns, most likely because they would prefer shoppers to return their shoes to a physical store. Their free shipping offers are also a lot weaker than their online-only competitors.
I have listed fifteen retailers below that currently offer free shipping both ways on shoes. I have highlighted any stores that have coupon codes related to their offers with a link to get the code.
- DSW – Free shipping both ways when you spend more than $35.
- Endless.com – Free shipping and returns on all orders.
- ShoeBuy.com – Blanket free shipping both ways on every order.
- Shoes.com - Free shipping both ways on all orders.
- Heels.com – Free 2-days hipping and free returns on all orders.
- Unique Home Store – Get free shipping and returns all the time.
- Zappos – Fast free delivery and free exchanges within 1 year of purchase.
- NB Web Express – Free shipping over $125 and free returns.
- Piperlime – Free shipping and returns on everything.
- Dick’s Sporting Goods – Free shipping & returns on footwear only.
- Sports Authority – Free S&H on footwear over $34.99.
- Dunham’s Sports – Free shipping on orders over $99 and free return shipping.
- OnlineShoes.com – Free shipping and exchanges plus a 365 day return window.
- ShoeDeals4U.com – Free shipping & free returns.
- SamantaShoes.com – Free shipping both ways on every order.
Other notable stores that offer free shipping both ways include eBags, Sephora, Boden, Urban Outfitters, Netflix, GameFly, BagsBuy.com, Overstock Art, eModa.com, Revolve Clothing, Hansen Surf and OutletBuy.com.
Comments Off
more...
Are Free Shipping Clubs like Amazon Prime Worth the Cost?
Amazon Prime Membership
I did an interview with Kelli Grant of SmartMoney.com yesterday, for a story that ran today about Free Shipping clubs/memberships. The interview forced me to do some research on the different merchants that have free shipping clubs that shoppers can join.
You should do your homework on each free shipping club you are considering to join so that you know if it will be worth the cost. Things to take into consideration are:
- How many times per year will you shop at that website?
- Will you recoup your membership costs in what you save on shipping?
- Does the website already have a regular free shipping code that you can take advantage of to save on shipping costs?
- Do you really need the items faster than standard shipping?
- Is there a physical store close to your home that you can shop at instead?
Below are 7 free shipping clubs that you can join with cost and benefits about each.
- Amazon Prime – $79 per year
With Amazon Prime you will get free 2-day shipping and $3.99 1-day shipping on orders that include Amazon.com items. This does not include reseller items that are featured on Amazon.com. - Sears ShipVantage – $79 per year
Sears ShipVantage program gives you 2-day shipping for 99 cents and 1-day shipping for $3.99. ShipVantage works at Sears and Kmart. - Overstock.com Club O – $20 per year
Club O members get free shipping on every order and a 5% discount on most items. They also get exclusive coupons and discounts by email. - SmartBargains.com Smart Shoppers Club – $10 per year
Smart Shoppers Club members get $2.95 standard shipping and $4.95 3 to 6 day shipping on all orders. You also get first access to new sales and markdowns. - Wamart.com Site to Store Express – $29 per year
For $29 per year you can get items purchased through Walmart’s Site to Store program in 3 to 5 days instead of the regular 7 to 10 days which is free. - Barnes and Noble Membership – $25 per year
Barnes and Noble members get free 1 to 3 day shipping on their orders, and they get access to exclusive monthly coupons and discounts like 20% off hard-cover books. Note: You can get free shipping at Barnes and Noble on orders over $25 every day of the year. - eCost.com Platinum Premium – $39.95 per year
With Platinum Premium from eCost.com you get free ground shipping on orders less than 10lbs five times per year. Platinum Premium members also get discounted express shipping rates and exclusive access to limited inventory products.
Macy’s Free Shipping Code for All Orders – First Time Ever
Macys.com has free shipping on any order
For the first time ever Macy’s is promoting a free shipping code good for any order placed on Macys.com. Macy’s usually offers free shipping on specific items or free shipping over $99 if it’s a holiday.
So the question is why is Macys.com promoting this new free shipping offer which is sure to lower their average order price? I believe Macy’s is testing their servers and processes to make sure they are ready to handle the big back to school and holiday shopping traffic when online merchants like Macys.com will make a majority of their sales.
The best way to generate holiday levels of traffic is to promote a first time ever promotion like free shipping on everything. And it worked. When visiting Macys.com this morning I was told to wait 10 seconds as the site was receiving higher than normal traffic levels.
Shoppers should take advantage of this Macy’sshipping code now, as it probably won’t show it’s head again for a very long time. Use coupon code SHIPFREE until Wednesday to get free shipping at Macy’s.