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The last-minute holiday battle

Written by Tom Ryan

Despite last year's challenges filling last-minute orders, most of the major retailers this season are offering aggressive online cutoff dates for meeting Dec. 24-delivery guarantees. Retailers with brick & mortar stores are competing with cutoff times for Christmas-Eve in-store pickup.

On Tuesday, Amazon said it was extending its free shipping deadline to Dec. 19 (with purchase of at least $35) for guaranteed Dec. 24 delivery. Last year, the free-shipping cutoff was Dec. 17.

The shipping extension is possible due to Amazon's growing network of fulfillment and sorting centers and its relationship with carriers, including UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service, Amazon told USA Today. In 2013, a flood of last-minute orders and poor weather in key hubs around the country overwhelmed UPS and FedEx, causing many packages to arrive after Christmas. The two major delivery giants as well as USPS have been making investments and arrangements to manage late shipments this year.

Amazon offers a number of other options for procrastinators:

  • Dec. 22: Two day shipping (free with Amazon Prime)
  • Dec. 23: One-day shipping (as low as $2.99 with Amazon Prime)
  • Dec. 24: Same-day delivery ($5.99 per shipment) in 12 major metro areas as long as orders are placed by 10 a.m. local time.

Best Buy has an equally-aggressive strategy — free two-day shipping on Dec. 22 on thousands of items (on orders of at least $35). Orders must be submitted by 10:30 a.m. C.T. and eligible items are spelled out on Best Buy's website. They exclude music and movies, which have to be ordered by Dec. 19. For in-store pickup on Dec. 24, orders must made be 4 p.m.

Target has set a cutoff of Dec. 20 for Dec. 24/free delivery with no stipulation on eligible items. Of the brick & mortar stores, it has the latest Dec. 24 in-store pickup cut-off at 5:00 p.m.

The tamest approach is being taken by Walmart, which set Dec. 17 as the last day for free shipping for guaranteed Dec. 24 delivery (orders of $50 or more). Last year, any order over $35 placed online by Dec. 19 earned free shipping and guaranteed delivery. The retailer is charging standard rates ($4.97 for orders over $50) on Dec. 19 as well as Expedited and Rush fees until Dec. 22 for Dec. 24 delivery. Similarly conservatively, online orders for Dec. 24 in-store pickup at Walmart have to be made on Dec. 23.

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