This Holiday Shopping Season, Fast Shipping is the New Free Shipping

From the “post-turkey blitz” on Thanksgiving Day to record-setting retail sales of more than $2 billion on Cyber Monday, in 2013 consumers and retailers have catapulted holiday shopping into a movement. As millions continue to take advantage of holiday discounts both in-store and online, expectations for package delivery are even more pronounced.

According to Forrester Research, 92 percent of the top e-tailers in the U.S. offer free shipping in some form. A recent article from Time also cites another study that found that 85 percent of online consumers designated free shipping as “important” or “very important” in their purchasing decisions – more than a site’s functionality and return policy. In fact, this year retailers have upped the ante by not only promising free shipping, but also fast shipping – and by that we don’t mean drones – but rather orders that arrive within two days after purchase. Time notes that “fast shipping” has become this year’s hotly contested battleground.

“In today’s connected world, the proliferation of mobile devices combined with machine-to-machine and cloud computing technologies have allowed consumers and distribution organizations to track parcel and post route patterns and delivery times with better accuracy year round,” said Paul Bedard, global director, enterprise data solutions at Verizon. “We are also seeing the development of applications that track for shock, humidity, light and other conditions that could impact the overall health of a package.”

And it doesn’t stop there, Bedard says that other advancements include video proof of delivery which allows organizations to demonstrate even more tangibly that a package has been delivered; dynamic re-routing which allows consumers to change package route patterns even after they have shipped from the point of origin; and mall kiosks which allow consumers to both ship or deliver packages without entering a physical store.

“It’s a much different relationship between consumers and package delivery companies than it used to be. Today, consumers can take a more active role in determining when, where and how their packages are shipped and delivered. The benefits are huge because it keeps parcel and post organizations from making multiple attempts or other shipping errors, which has cost these organizations billions of lost revenue in the past and led to widespread customer dissatisfaction,” Bedard continued.

For more information on key shipping dates and other tips to assist with your holiday gift delivery click here.

For more information on Verizon’s solutions for transportation and distribution click here.