It was a “free shipping” email fest in my inbox this morning. No sooner had I logged on then “free shipping” after “free shipping” offers pinged into my email.
There was free shipping from Boscov’s Department store on orders over $50. Next was free shipping from Zappos.com, my favorite site for getting the hip Saucony sneakers I love. (I’ve seen Zappos.com boxes on “What Not to Wear”, so Stacy and Clinton must love the site, too!) A few seconds later, Lands’ End popped in to let me know that they were offering free shipping on orders placed before October 29th (hurry, or you’ll miss out!)
I had to wonder: will free shipping be the make-or-break for retailers this holiday season? Seems so.
A few minutes ago I got a press release from the National Retail Federation about the new 2007 eHoliday Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shop.org and Shopzilla, on consumers’ thoughts on free shipping (61% of us love it, myself included) and what retailers will be doing about it for holiday 2007.
Turns out that a whopping 78.6% of them will be offering free shipping in one form or another. Take that another way and it adds up to this: on average, nearly eight out of the 10 websites you shop at online are likely to be having a free shipping promotion of one kind or another this year. With news like that, who wants to wait until Black Friday (or the newer trend Black Monday also known as Cyber Monday) to start your holiday shopping? I know that my palms are starting to itch for some good deals (though my bank account probably won’t allow it).
This free shipping free-for-all got me thinking: good deals aside, would it be better for the environment if this year I shopped online exclusively? I figured that if I drove to the mall less–and so did millions of other Americans–wouldn’t that be a step in the right direction for our collective carbon footprint?
Amazon.com would like you to think so, and offers a link on its website to an academic paper that compares the environmental impact of e-commerce versus traditional retailing. I downloaded the document and read through it with my best PhD eyes (though I have a BA only; it’s my husband who’s got the PhD).
And guess what? If you and I drove to the mall less and shopped online more, we probably would be having a smaller impact on the environment. In fact, the last line of this paper, written by two professors from Carnegie Mellon University, is telling: “[O]ur base analysis case suggests that E-Commerce sales have a cost advantage and environmental benefits.”
Cool. Whose ready for some online shopping? Remember: if you’ve got gift cards, now would be a great time to use them!
READ LEAH ON HOME GOES STRONG
I always wondered that. I order a lot online. With two young boys it is a lot easier to shop from home than to go out to the store. But is it really more environmentally friendly? I guess the mail carrier delivers the mail either way, so, there is no extra miles of fuel added. However, I question the packaging used. Things seem to have a lot more packaging attached to them when it is delivered by mail, more plastic sheeting, ect. Is saving fuel better than not wasting material? Plus, what about the environmental encouragement to shop locally? It is an interesting equation.
Lindsay:
You are right on all accounts. The one negative that this paper pointed out was about the packaging used in e-commerce BUT retailers receive things in boxes, too–we just don’t see it because we’re not behind the scenes. If you do order a lot online and the cardboard part bothers you, bring your used boxes to a UPS Store or something like that. They will take them off of your hands and reuse them. Same with packing peanuts. Or stockpile the boxes (like I do; boy, my basement is a fire hazard) for when I sell stuff on eBay and need to ship things, or if I need a last-minute gift box. But the fuel thing turns out to be a wash, for the reasons you just said–the UPS guy or the mail carrier is still coming down your street anyway. I do believe, though, that whenever possible, we should shop locally–especially when it comes to food.
Thanks for commenting.
Leah
I agree that it would make sense for the environment in principle but against that are all the deliveries made that also use fuels. Most of all, it could tail of social contact with other humans when you shop.
We’re all about online shopping in my family, and we reuse the boxes by using them for Christmas gives. I’ve gotten many sweaters, CDs and DVDs wrapped up in Amazon.com boxes.
Another favorite online retailer of mine is BN.com. They have free shipping on orders over $25 all the time and stock books, CDs and DVDs. Plus, they’re pretty quick in getting the stuff to me (unlike what I’ve experienced with amazon.com). From a frugal standpoint, it also cuts down on impulse purchases, a problem I have when going to a physical bookstore like Barnes & Noble.
I just figure it’s better to shop online because you can easily surf around to many different stores to shop and compare selections, prices, etc. If you were to drive, it might take a trip to the mall, or a few trips to several malls, and then a few other shopping centers and free-standing stores in order to find exactly what you’re looking for.