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 HistoryFree 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.
National Free Shipping Day timeline
Free Shipping Day’s sponsors marked a decade of success by launching their coupon website.
After hearing from consumers, the National Free Shipping Day sponsors said retailers had to remove all minimum order thresholds if they wanted to participate in the event.
National Free Shipping Day online sales exceeded Black Friday sales by $294 million, bringing in the third- highest revenue in online sales to date.
Luke Knowles created National Free Shipping Day as a way to trigger increased online holiday sales without shipping fees for consumers.
We all have Pizza Hut to thank for being the first store to offer online shopping on the web.
National Free Shipping Day FAQs
What day is free shipping for internet shopping?
National Free Shipping Day is a one day event that takes place in mid-December every year. This year it lands on December 14!
Does Amazon have a free shipping day?
Amazon participates in free shipping day, but you can also get deals throughout the year if you have an Amazon Prime account.
What stores participate in Free Shipping Day?
A few participating retailers are Target, Bloomingdales, and J. Crew. You can review a longer list here to see which retailers participate in the holiday as well as offer coupons year long.
National Free Shipping Day Activities
-
Plan your online shopping splurge
Holiday shopping rules are still basically the same. You come up with a budget and work hard to stick with it. National Free Shipping Day allows you to buy all the things you've been thinking about throughout the year from the comfort of home. The easiest part is merely whipping out that credit card and making the purchase (without a shipping fee, of course).
-
Skype with friends while you shop
We are so lucky to live in a time where technology actually makes life easier. Celebrate National Free Shipping Day by gathering a couple of friends and shopping together via Skype or FaceTime. Need an opinion on that new outfit, or concerned about those shoes? Make group online shopping a thing.
-
Cook while you shop
National Free Shipping Day lets you sit at home and while away the hours looking at all the things you want to buy at considerable savings. But you aren't held captive — so multi-task. Bake your favorite cookies or whip up a gourmet meal. Then, get online and make your shipping-free purchases while everything's simmering. Just don't get distracted and burn your meal.
3 Reasons You'll Save On National Free Shipping Day
-
Special shipping costs a fortune
FedEx offers same-day delivery to all 50 states, every day of the year, as long as money is no object (prepare for extravagant shipping fees).
-
Shippers need fleets of expensive aircraft
Both FedEx and UPS combined have a fleet of 1,173 aircraft — just under’s Delta’s 1,280 planes.
-
Shipping is a never-ending job
There are at least 20 million shipping containers crisscrossing the world as we speak.
Why We Love National Free Shipping Day
-
A chance to use your coupons
Many retailers will be promoting additional savings with coupons. Unlike in the past, coupon clipping is now just a click away. At the checkout stand, simply add in the promo code and take advantage of superior savings.
-
Online shopping is convenient
National Free Shipping Day features over 1,000 big-name and niche online retailers to choose from. You can sit in the comfort of your home or office and get everything you need for family and friends. Since the retailers have waived their shipping fees, all you pay for is the merchandise. Prepare for the thanks you'll get when everybody receives their gifts on time!
-
It's a winning idea
National Free Shipping Day is the brainchild of Colorado entrepreneur Luke Knowles — who noticed that online shopping slowed to a crawl just before the middle of December. He discovered that shoppers were afraid orders wouldn’t arrive in time for Christmas and there would be astronomical shipping fees as well. Knowles solved the problem by creating National Free Shipping Day, a one-day online event that consistently blows out Black Friday sales — meaning a win for both merchants and consumers. Are you a business looking to promote Free Shipping Day? Check out our Influencer Marketing partners to help you scale your campaign globally.
National Free Shipping Day dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | December 14 | Tuesday |
| 2022 | December 14 | Wednesday |
| 2023 | December 14 | Thursday |
| 2024 | December 14 | Saturday |
