Attention all last-minute holiday shoppers: The deadline to get your online orders delivered free by Christmas is fast approaching.
But there are still plenty of options for procrastinators, as retailers intent on getting every last dollar they can offer holiday shipping promotions like Friday’s Free Shipping Day or Wal-Mart’s free two-day toy delivery. There are even options for shopping slackers who want to shop online as late as Christmas Eve and who aren’t willing to go the gift card or IOU route.
Many retailers now let customers buy items online and reserve them for in-store pickup at no added charge. For those who won’t go to the store, certain retailers offer same-day delivery.
Courier service Postmates is best-known for delivering restaurant meals but also will pick up orders from retailers that include Urban Outfitters, Best Buy and Sephora when placed through the Postmates app. Delivery fees on retail purchases vary, depending on the order size and distance a courier travels, and there’s also a 9 percent service fee. Orders often can be delivered in about an hour, as long as the customer’s desired retailer is open.
The company sees “a huge influx in usage during December,” said Postmates spokeswoman April Conyers.
Postmates sees extra purchases from retailers, including drugstore orders for items like batteries and wrapping paper, Conyers said — potentially from customers who thought ahead on their actual gifts but forgot the pesky yet necessary add-ons, or simply didn’t want to brave the winter weather to visit the store themselves.
Waited until Christmas Eve? At Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, the deadline for same-day delivery is 10 a.m., three hours ahead of the usual cutoff. Both charge $5 more for same-day delivery than the standard ground shipping fee. That means a Macy’s customer spending less than $99 online can get same-day service for half what they’d pay for express shipping, which would deliver purchases in two days.
Last year, Deliv was fielding twice as many same-day orders in the week around Thanksgiving as it had been earlier that fall. That figure rose steadily through the week before Christmas, when Deliv saw nearly six times as many orders, said Ingrid Bekkers, Deliv’s head of marketing. The company saw a similar bump around Thanksgiving this year and expects order volume to continue growing.
“We’re seeing this massive group of people procrastinating who are getting used to two-day delivery,” Bekkers said.
The caveat in all this: Holiday shopping laggards can’t count on access to a retailer’s entire selection. Same-day delivery and in-store pickup of online orders are typically only an option when an item is in stock at the customer’s chosen store or a nearby location.
