What is National Free Shipping Day?
What’s not to love about National Free Shipping Day held this year on December 14? You can shop ’til you drop by getting everything online; plus, there are no sky-high shipping rates. Pay only for what you actually buy, let someone else handle the extra costs. The date of the holiday changes each year so be on the lookout in mid-December.
National Free Shipping Day History
Free Shipping Day is a national shopping holiday as well as a year-round coupon website. The holiday started in 2008, while the coupon portion of the site was launched in 2017 as a resource for online savings, providing shoppers with coupons and free shipping codes from top retail partners and niche e-retailers.
National Free Shipping Day was conceived by internet entrepreneur Luke Knowles. While running his own free shipping-focused website, he noticed an interesting trend among users: online shopping seemed to drop around December 10. Though many retailers were capable of shipping orders on time for the holidays, shoppers were worried about receiving their packages on time and the crazy holiday shipping fees that would accompany them. It struck him that an event promoting free shipping and guaranteed on-time delivery was exactly what the holiday season was missing.
The first event was put together in two weeks by Luke and his one employee. It featured 250 participating merchants, including Target, JCPenney, and Pottery Barn. After a busy and sleepless night on December 17, 2008, Knowles kicked off the first ever Free Shipping Day the following morning. The event earned $764 million in online sales and became one of the top 10 highest-earning days in e-commerce during the holiday season that year!
National Free Shipping Day is now a permanent entry in the holiday shopping lexicon. More and more retailers partner with Free Shipping Day to capture sales from shoppers eager to finish their holiday lists in mid to late December.
