Amazon triples number of ‘free shippping’ items

New York -- E-commerce giant Amazon.com is upping the ante on its free shipping policy.



The Seattle company announced that all Amazon seller-fulfilled items are now eligible to contribute to Amazon’s minimum order of $35 to qualify for free shipping. So now customers can get free shipping whether the items are fulfilled by Amazon or from the millions of small and local businesses selling on Amazon.



This free shipping expansion more than triples the millions of items eligible to contribute for free shipping, and makes items from small and local businesses offering free-shipping even more attractive to customers. Customers can easily discover which items contribute to the minimum order for free shipping as all eligible items will have a “free shipping” message on the product page. For example, a customer wants to buy a $25 coffee grinder fulfilled by Amazon.



Previously the customer would have needed to find another Amazon-fulfilled item for at least $10 in order to qualify for free shipping on the entire order. Now seller-fulfilled offers with free shipping can be combined with Amazon-fulfilled offers to meet the $35 order minimum. If the customer adds a $10 bag of coffee sold by a seller with free shipping, the combined price of the grinder and the coffee allows the entire order to qualify for free shipping. Amazon.com typically offers free shipping on orders greater than $35, but the speed of the delivery can vary, as opposed to the certainty afforded with Prime.



Over the last few years, the unlimited free two-day shipping service with Prime has become the preferred shipping method among Amazon customers, according to the retailer. Amazon said it now ships more than twice as many items with Prime than with conventional free shipping. In addition to the free shipping, Prime members in the U.S. receive instant streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, one million songs, access to 700,000 books, unlimited photo storage, early access to promotional offers known as Lightening Deals.