Best Buy offers free two-day shipping, creating holiday competition for Amazon

Best Buy is offering customers free two-day shipping on thousands of its online products.

Best Buy is offering customers free two-day shipping on thousands of its online products.

Best Buy recently announced that it would be providing free two-day shipping on thousands of its online items. The company is able to execute this move because it has begun using its brick-and-mortar stores as fulfillment centers for e-commerce orders in a ship-from-store strategy to gain a bigger piece of holiday sales.

More companies are offering customers competitive shipping options this holiday season, in order to compete with Amazon's policy of free two-day shipping for it's Amazon Prime members. Amazon is building new fulfillment centers all over the country, and has started testing same-day and even two-hour delivery. 

Target is also offering free delivery on all products ordered before Dec. 20, which is expected to boost its online holiday sales. 

Best Buy CEO Hubert Jolly began the ship-from-store program in 50 stores just last year, and recently announced that the movement has expanded chain-wide throughout the company's 1,400 locations. This is expected to help remedy Best Buy's past problem of failing to close 4 percent of digital orders because of unavailable or out-of-stock merchandise. 

If your company is trying to encourage online sales, consider making your shipping and delivery options more competitive. Customers have so many choices for quick delivery that retailers can't afford to ignore shipping incentives, whether that means lower delivery costs or faster delivery times. This can be done by hiring a third-party logistics company to handle your fulfillment needs for you.

At Reliable Runners, we specialize in the logistics business, so we know exactly what it takes to fulfill orders accurately, at low-cost and on time. Our warehouse staff and experienced transportation fleet are ready to complete your business' orders in the most efficient manner possible, so contact us today for more information and to discuss your opportunities for shipping growth.