Amazon.com Inc. Prime members can shop last minute from their couch.
The e-commerce giant released a calendar of cutoff dates for shoppers looking to make a purchase that gets under the tree by Christmas Day. Prime members still have nearly two weeks to place an order. If you’re not a Prime member, you have until Dec. 14 for free delivery on purchases of $25 or more.
The last day for Prime members to place an order using standard shipping is Dec. 18. For Prime two-day shipping, the last day for orders is Dec. 22. And 10 million items eligible for one-day delivery can be ordered through Dec. 23.
Prime members can take advantage of same-day delivery on Dec. 24 in eligible areas on orders of more than $35. Orders must be placed by 9:30 a.m. local time. Members can also wait until Christmas Eve to take advantage of two-hour grocery delivery in select cities. This option is available through Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market.
Besides delivery, Amazon AMZN, -0.32% also has pickup options from Amazon Lockers and Amazon Counter partners like Rite Aid Corp. RAD, +18.50% , GNC Holdings Inc. GNC, +0.00% and Stage Stores Inc. SSI, +1.05% Amazon stores are open in 12 U.S. states on Christmas Eve.
And there’s always the gift card option, which is available on Christmas Day.
Time is short this holiday shopping season, with six fewer days for consumers to get through their lists. Many retailers began pushing out their Christmas promotions early this year in order to stretch the shopping season to the limit. Walmart Inc. WMT, +0.17% , for example, began rolling out holiday discounts before Halloween.
Deloitte’s 2019 holiday survey found that 54% of shoppers prefer to go online rather than to stores. There were record-breaking days throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, with smartphone shopping increasing.
Deloitte’s data also shows the significance of free delivery, with 85% of consumers saying that free shipping is important versus 15% who say prefer items quickly. Nearly half of shoppers (41%) told Deloitte they planned to start their holiday shopping in November, and 39% said they would begin before the end of October.
And: As Amazon races to deliver in a day, Target drives digital customers to stores
For traditional retailers like Walmart and Target Corp. TGT, +0.35% , the option to buy online and pickup in stores has been valuable, both for shoppers’ time and the bottom line.
“Given that the same-day options rely on our store assets, team and inventory they are much more profitable than traditional e-commerce fulfillment,” Brian Cornell, Target’s chief executive, said on the third-quarter earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript.
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Amazon stock is up 19.7% for the year to date. The Amplify Online Retail ETF IBUY, +0.78% is up 28.8%. And the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.49% and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.28% are up 28.6% and 22.2% respectively for 2019 so far.
