When you’re doing your holiday shopping this season, you might want to think twice about selecting the ‘ship to store’ option!
Ship to store: Heads or tails?
A new survey find shoppers report they encountered problems half the time they bought online and went to pick up at a traditional brick-and-mortar store. The survey, which was conducted by JDA Software Group Inc., was based on the responses of 1,000 online shoppers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Recently I had a similar experience, which I thought was an isolated incident at the time. I ordered something online at a major retailer’s website and later got the e-mail saying the item was ready for pickup. Well, it was not! It took three people to find my order. What should have been a minute took 25 minutes!
Sure, you’ll get the savings by ordering online and picking up in store to avoid shipping fees. But the experience is not going to be smooth half the time, as the JDA survey and my experience shows. I think it’s just out-and-out crazy we’re at this high of a failure rate in the modern era. Yet that fact still doesn’t make it worth it to me to pay a shipping charge! But know that you’re going to have to really work for your savings, like I did.
Read more: 5 Black Friday deals you can get cheaper if you wait
Amazon offers free same-day shipping
Amazon Prime members in 16 metro areas across the U.S. are now eligible for FREE same-day shipping. The offer applies to orders of $35 or more and is good seven days a week.
Read more: Black Friday deals leaked, Thanksgiving store hours and more!
Although it applies exclusively to ‘eligible’ orders, the company guarantees ‘over a million items, delivered before bedtime.’ Customers can spot the deal when they see the ‘Prime FREE Same-Day’ logo next to a product on the site.
Should orders miss the 12 p.m. daily cut-off to receive same-day shipping, the same free deal applies for next-day shipping for purchases made later in the day.
The 16 metro areas covered are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle/Tacoma, the Tampa Bay area and Washington, D.C.
For more money-saving advice, see our Deals section!
