Amazon waives $25 minimum spend to offer free Christmas deliveries for all U.S. customers

Amazon has announced its latest plan to cash in on the lucrative Christmas shopping extravaganza: free deliveries for all customers, with no minimum spend required.
Away from Prime memberships, the ecommerce giant has dabbled with various minimum-spend thresholds over the years in terms of how consumers can qualify for free shipping. The figure was previously pegged at $25, but in 2013 Amazon raised it to $35, before bumping it up to $49 in 2016 and then dropping it back to $35 the following year. Three months later, in May 2017, Amazon cut the minimum-spend threshold back down to $25, where it remains today.

Christmas spirit

While Amazon’s recent Q3 earnings beat Wall Street estimates, its revenue and Q4 outlook — which include the Christmas period — fell short of estimates, causing its shares to plummet 10 percent. With Target recently announcing free two-day shipping on certain goods with no minimum purchase required for Christmas and Walmart also offering free shipping on goods, albeit with a minimum spend of $35, Amazon is now taking the battle to its rivals.
It’s worth noting that Amazon’s Prime members already qualify for free same-day and two-day deliveries on certain goods, including Whole Foods orders, but this latest announcement opens things up to those who have yet to join Amazon Prime. Of course, Amazon will no doubt use this initiative to market Prime aggressively.
The offer is open from today (November 5) until a date when Amazon can no longer promise to get an item to the customer in time for Christmas, likely around a week before December 25.
Source: VentureBeat
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