Posted by Lending Club :: November 26, 2007 @ 7:01 am

As a child, receiving the Sears Wishbook in the mail was one of the true thrills of the holiday season. Nowadays, the first L.L. Bean Christmas catalog of the year provides a similar rush. This year’s catalog advertised something that more and more retailers are using to help boost their seasonal sales: Free Shipping.

The National Retail Federation, cites results of the 2007 eHoliday Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shop.org and Shopzilla. The study found that conditionally free shipping will be offered by 78.6% of the retailers this season. Conditionally free shipping means that shipping will be free if a condition, such as a minimum purchase amount, is met.

While conditionally free shipping will be the most popular shipping promotion, it is not the only one that will be offered. Retailers will use the following promotions as well: 60.4% will use free shipping upgrades, 53.5% will use discounted shipping, and 41.4% will use free shipping without conditions. I was pleased to see that the terms of L.L. Bean’s shipping fall into this last category.

Shopping online can be the most affordable way to shop with such promotions. First, consumers can likely find better prices online than they could at their local store. Second, many online items are sold tax- free, though they may be subject to use tax in some states. Third, free shipping not only saves people money, but also allows them to avoid having to deal with the expense of driving to the stores and the subsequent crowds they find there.

Lending Club, the P2P lender of choice, wants your holiday to be as joyous, and affordable, as possible. We encourage you to take advantage of free and reduced shipping from online retailers to make both of those hopes a reality.