Every year, American holiday shoppers have three key dates they look forward to:
- The day after Thanksgiving: Black Friday
- Monday after Thanksgiving: cyber monday
- Three days after Christmas: Mariah Carey Day All I want for Christmas is you stops playing Target
But did you know that there is a lesser known shopping holiday that many people miss out on?
It’s called Free Shipping Day, and as the name suggests, it’s a chance for holiday shoppers to save a few dollars on last-minute gifts.
So how does it work? When is that? Which retailers are participating in 2022 and should you mark it on your calendar?
Finally, why haven’t you heard about it?
What is Free Shipping Day?
Free Shipping Day, which usually takes place around mid-December each year, is a lesser-known “holiday” when online retailers offer free shipping on just about everything in their inventory. This year it falls on December 14th.
As you might have guessed, this particular holiday of online shopping was coined in the good old US state of A. Back in 2008, Luke and Maisie Knowles — the powerful couple behind Coupon Sherpa and later Kinoli — noticed that consumer costs plummeted after Black Friday as sales ended and no one wanted to pay for shipping.
After all, free shipping was rare back then.
MRW, it’s 2008 and I’m being offered free shipping on my Coldplay CD | Source: Giphy.com
So, to kill two birds with one stone, they came up with Free Shipping Day. Not only will this boost consumer spending, but it will also help holiday shoppers get used to the idea of shopping online.
And boy, it was a hit. By 2011, Free Shipping Day spending had grown to over $1 billion, eclipsing Black Friday itself.
In 2013, Knowles changed the rules to say you can only participate as a seller if you can guarantee delivery by Christmas Eve. While this led to a reduction in the share of small sellers, big players like Target and JCPenney doubled their sales.
Now, if Free Shipping Day is clearly a way to get people to buy more items, and big retailers are into it, why haven’t you heard of it?
Why haven’t I heard of Free Shipping Day?
More than 300 retailers participated in Free Shipping Day 2021, according to Coupon Cabin, which begs the question: why haven’t most people heard of it? Where is all the marketing?
Short answer: Free Shipping Day has become a much quieter shopping holiday since the pandemic. While 300 large retailers is a lot, it’s a lot less than the 1,000+ who participated in 2017.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that COVID killed Free Shipping Day, and I think that’s probably for two important reasons:
- It is becoming increasingly difficult for sellers to guarantee delivery times. This is because holiday delivery delays were a problem even before COVID, and currently some people don’t get their Christmas cards until mid-January. Packages are routinely lost, stolen, or damaged during the holiday shipping craze, and big online retailers that have already been hurt by inflation aren’t willing to risk refunds and 1-star reviews based on factors beyond their control.
- Another key goal of Free Shipping Day, which is to make consumers feel comfortable shopping online, is no longer relevant. Unlike consumers in 2008, consumers in 2022 fluent in online stores prefer It.
So, free shipping day is completely dead and should be taken off the holiday shopping calendar?
Well, not necessarily. Let’s take a look at what’s left and where you can save some money, starting with which retailers can get involved this year.
Which retailers are participating in Free Shipping Day 2022?
As of this writing, the holiday’s official website – FreeShippingDay.com – is dead, with no “site maintenance” style placeholder and no URL redirects of any kind.
This makes it difficult to predict which retailers will be participating this year as this website hosted the RSVP list.
But hope is not lost; It’s likely that a significant portion of the companies that participated last year will do something again this year, whether it’s free shipping, big discounts, or both.
Kudos to Coupon Cabin for documenting the most participating retailers since last year. You can see the full list of members, but here are some of the more recognizable brands:
- Amazon
- Banana republic
- Barnes and Noble
- Bed Bath and more
- Best Buy
- Calvin Klein
- Crate and barrel
- Edible compositions
- game stop
- groupon
- JCPenney
- Keith Spade
- Macy
- Neiman Marcus
- Nike
- Depot Office
- old fleet
- Stocks
- PetSmart
- Ralph Lauren
- Sephora
- Target
- under armor
- Vera Bradley
- Victoria’s Secrets
- walmart
Again, as far as we know, nobody of these retailers will take part in Free Shipping Day 2022. The holiday could be completely ruined.
But if you’re saving up for something good at one of these retailers, or if you’re missing Cyber Monday, it might be worth keeping an eye out for Free Shipping Day deals.
Read more: How to Hack Cyber Monday: 10 Tips from an Online Shopping Pro
On that note, let’s talk about when you should—and shouldn’t—wait for Free Shipping Day.
When is the free shipping day?
Well, it totally depends on what you are looking for. Here’s when to expect Free Shipping Day, even in its limited form:
1. Buying essentials
Let’s put aside the fact that Free Shipping Day was meant to encourage holiday shopping and imagine that it fell on July 14th instead. What would be great things to buy while you get free shipping from major retailers who might otherwise charge you for it?
If you ask me, this would be a great time to download the essentials for the home. Between Amazon, Walmart, and Target, you can probably use Free Shipping Day to make a few trips to the store for paper towels, shampoo, razors, and more.
Because if you’re like me, you spend way too much time wandering through the endless aisles of these mega-networks. So Free Shipping Day can push back your holiday schedule by 5+ hours.
2. Buying gifts for yourself
If you’ve got your eye on a special gift for someone you love (yourself) and the company selling it charges shipping, you can contact and ask if it’s on Free Shipping Day 2022.
I fully support do-it-yourself gifts during the holidays, and if you can save on shipping, all the better.
MRW I put myself on my list of “favorite people to shop for” | Source: Giphy.com
But I would not recommend buying gifts for other due to no. 1 below.
When is free shipping day No worth it?
Ironically, Free Shipping Day not perfect for buying gifts for others. Here are two main reasons:
1. If you need gifts that should arrive in 2022
Biggest caveat to Free Shipping Day – and most likely not. One of the reasons why 70% of retailers opted out is because it has become much more difficult for online retailers to ensure that items purchased on December 14th will be delivered by the 24th.
In fact, even sellers who guarantee this cannot be trusted. Industry analysts have found that many major retailers that “guarantee” shipping before Christmas are actually writing in fine print that essentially says:
“We will pack it up and ship it out the door as soon as possible, but if it gets delayed by the shipping provider, ¯_(ツ)_/¯”
And believe it or not, this fine print existed. before pandemic.
That’s why I wouldn’t recommend buying any urgent gifts on Free Shipping Day. Just things for yourself that you don’t mind bringing in January.
Read more: Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas
2. If you are looking for the lowest price
If you’re looking for big discounts, Free Shipping Day probably won’t be the right day to find them.
In the past, retailers participating in Free Shipping Day created free shipping as discount. A great example is Bed Bath & Beyond, which had great sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but on Free Shipping Day they only lowered the spending threshold for free shipping from $39 to $19.
Summary
Even if Free Shipping Day returns in some limited form in 2022, it won’t cost the vast majority of holiday shoppers. After all, there are two big reasons why most retailers seem to have given up on online shopping holidays:
- Their best deals are already on for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- December 14 is too late to guarantee delivery before Christmas (not to mention the first night of Hanukkah).
That being said, if you find a participating retailer in 2022, it might be worth taking advantage of some deals for yourself, whether it’s essentials that would otherwise command high shipping costs, or a gift for yourself that you don’t mind being late.
Featured Image: Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com