Free Same-Day Shipping A Key To E-Commerce Success?

Just in case you weren’t sure about how much Canadians love to shop online, the next few months are bound to prove it to you. Year in and year out, sales statistics clearly show that online shopping is continually growing in popularity. And it only makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s not like the internet is going anywhere. It’s only getting more widely-used. Especially since people use their smartphones for internet use so often, online shopping has become so much easier to do.

Amazon.com Inc. knows a thing or two about the entire e-commerce world. Founded in 1994, Amazon has become the world’s largest internet retailer. And, with the impending holiday season on its way, the company plans on showing us all how they plan on keeping it that way. As reported by Marina Strauss in The Globe and Mail earlier this week, Amazon is offering free same-day delivery for its Prime members in Toronto and Vancouver.

Is same-day shipping the key to e-commerce success? We’re not necessarily of the minds that without free same-day shipping, e-commerce can’t be successful (it’s incredibly successful for businesses all over Canada as it is), but the promotion certainly can’t hurt. Especially with sales about to pick up, thanks to the advent of this year’s holiday season, free same-day shipping is surely bound to entice cost-conscious shoppers.

Strauss reports that the Amazon offer has been extended to one million orders that are $25 and over in Toronto and 700,000 like orders in Vancouver. The wide range of items available includes household appliances, toys, luggage, electronics, shampoo, snacks and drinks. Amazon is well aware of how many retailers are ramping up their e-commerce efforts this holiday season and are looking to get a jump start.

Will Canadian merchants adopt the free same-day shipping approach? Suthamie Poologasingham, who is the senior adviser of e-commerce at retail consultancy J.C. Williams Group, believes that they should. “Retailers are really going to have to step up, in terms of their offers but also their convenience of shopping,” she is quoted as saying, “It will make it tougher.” She went on to announce that same-day e-commerce delivery is in its early stages in Canada.

“Some retailers, such as Sport Chek (owned by Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.) are testing same-day shipping in local markets (in the Toronto area in the case of Sport Chek),” reports Strauss, “Indigo Books & Music Inc., Best Buy Canada, Ssense and Frank + Oak are other retailers that offer same-day shipping, with fees of roughly $12 to $14, said Danielle Doiron, director of parcels market development at Canada Post.”

Are you ready to adopt an e-commerce solution for your website? At Canadian POS Corporation, we proudly offer an ideal e-commerce solution for Canadian business owners who are ready to get in on the increasingly-popular trend of online shopping. While you may not yet be ready to offer free same-day shipping, it only makes sense to allow your customers to make purchases directly from your website.

For more information, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.