Merchants that want to sign-up early to participate can do by filling out our merchant sign-up form.

Look for the new FreeShippingDay.com website by the end of July.

This year we encouraged merchants to offer free shipping on all orders and gave better placement to merchants that did so. Over half of all participating merchants offered free shipping on all orders.

81% of the top 100 clicked on merchant offers had free shipping on all orders, and 76% of total clicks went to merchants that offered free shipping on all orders.

A big thanks also goes out to the news media, bloggers and tweeters who let everybody know about the event.

Free Shipping Day 2010 is tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 17, 2010.

We are more than 80% of the way to our goal of 500 merchants. New merchants are signing up to participate every day and we expect the final number to be well over 500 by December 17th.

Merchants can sign up by clicking on this link.

That’s almost a third of the way to our goal of 500 merchants and over half as many as participated in last years event.

Merchants can sign up by clicking on this link.

Thanks to all the blogs, newspapers and television stations that have already run stories on this years event. The coverage has helped to raise awareness about Free Shipping Day and encourage more merchants to get on board.

Fort Collins, CO. – You’ve heard about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have become household names in the holiday shopping vocabulary. Luke Knowles believes that, as early as this December, Free Shipping Day will emerge as a widely known event among cost-conscious consumers during the holiday shopping season.

Last December 18, procrastinators and retailers alike embraced the inaugural Free Shipping Day, which represents the last possible 24-hour period when online shoppers can place their orders with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. This year’s Free Shipping Day will be held on December 17, and retailers are confident that consumers will once again favorably respond.

From Bloomingdale’s, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s to Victoria’s Secret, Williams-Sonoma and Zappos.com, more than 250 retailers participated in last year’s Free Shipping Day. Knowles expects that number to top 500 this year. Many retailers will announce their participation in early December, but so far merchants like Toys R Us, Babies R Us, FAO Schwartz, eToys, Baby Universe and Crate & Barrel have confirmed they will be involved.

Knowles – who created FreeShipping.org with his wife, Maisie, in 2007 – hatched the idea for Free Shipping Day just two weeks before the event last December. In an abrupt brainstorm, he thought that retailers would relish the opportunity to extend the online holiday shopping season, which typically peaks in early December because consumers are concerned about their gift orders arriving to their intended destination in time for Christmas.

Knowles expected a favorable response from retailers and consumers last year, but he didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that the event actually received. The FreeShippingDay.com web site saw over 250,000 visitors in a 10-day period, including more than 100,000 on the actual day itself. Regional and national media outlets (including Woman’s Day, Smart Money, Oprah.com and numerous newspapers and TV stations) covered the event. Knowles projects that more than 500 retailers will participate in this year’s Free Shipping Day.

“We are finding that a wide range of retailers are contacting us to participate in free Shipping Day,” said Knowles, whose site, www.FreeShipping.org, is a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. “Last year, even though the event was put together in a short time frame not long before Christmas, we generated a lot of media attention, and that caught the interest of merchants. Now, with a full year of planning for the event, we expect to double the number of participating retailers.”

Retailers large and small embraced Free Shipping Day. For larger merchants, the event provides an additional forum to increase sales without having to draw customers into their physical locations. Some small online retailers set a single-day record for traffic because of their participation. The presence of their respective logos on the Free Shipping Day web site created substantial exposure the businesses otherwise would not have seen.

Free of charge, businesses can participate in Free Shipping Day and have their logo and free shipping offer posted on the home page of FreeShippingDay.com by visiting the site and filling out a form.

“Even though we have good intentions to get our holiday shopping done early, we as consumers tend to wait until the last second because of our busy lives,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day is the perfect shopping event for procrastinators, and retailers love the idea because it extends the online holiday shopping season since consumers know that they can place an order on December 17 and it will arrive at the intended destination by Christmas Eve day.”

###

Free Shipping Day is an event which represents a shopping holiday late in December when participating retailers guarantee on-time delivery by Christmas Eve to it’s shoppers. The first event – which was held on Thursday, December 18, 2008 – attracted more than 250 retailers and 250,000 unique visitors on the Free Shipping Day web site, including more than 100,000 visitors on the actual day itself. Free Shipping Day 2009 will be held on Thursday, December 17. For more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.

Holiday shopping procrastinators and retailers alike embraced the inaugural Free Shipping Day, which was held last December 18. The event was so successful that founder Luke Knowles is already planning the second annual Free Shipping Day, which is slated for Thursday, December 17, 2009.

Free Shipping Day represents the last possible 24-hour period when online shoppers can place their orders with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. Knowles – who created FreeShipping.org with his wife, Maisie, in 2007, hatched the idea for Free Shipping Day just two weeks before the event last December. In an abrupt brainstorm, he thought that retailers would relish the opportunity to extend the online holiday shopping season, which typically peaks in early December because consumers are concerned about their gift orders arriving to their intended destination in time for Christmas.

Knowles expected a favorable response from retailers and consumers last year, but he didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that the event actually received. Free Shipping Day attracted more than 250 merchants and the FreeShippingDay.com web site saw more than 250,000 hits in a 10-day period, including 105,000 on the actual day itself. Regional and national media outlets (including Woman’s Day, Smart Money, Oprah.com and numerous newspapers and TV stations) covered the event. Knowles projects that more than 500 retailers will participate in this year’s Free Shipping Day.

“Last year, it was so popular that, leading up to December 18, we had major retailers approaching us to be part of the event,” said Knowles, whose site, FreeShipping.org, is a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. “That shows the viability of Free Shipping Day when major companies like JCPenney, Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma reach out to us to participate.”

Retailers large and small embraced Free Shipping Day. For larger merchants, the event provides an additional forum to increase sales without having to draw customers into their physical locations. Some small online retailers set a single-day record for traffic because of their participation. The presence of their respective logos on the Free Shipping Day web site created substantial exposure the businesses otherwise would not have seen.

Businesses can participate in Free Shipping Day and have their logo and free shipping offer posted on the home page of FreeShippingDay.com by visiting the site and filling out a form.

Black Friday, which is the frenetic time when consumers descend upon stores the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, which commemorates the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to their offices and surf the Internet for deals, are now a part of American pop culture. Knowles believes it is natural that Free Shipping Day will also become part of our nation’s holiday shopping vocabulary within a few years.

“Simply put, Free Shipping Day is the last chance for many people to buy gifts and get them delivered to the intended recipient just in time,” Knowles explained. “We are a nation of procrastinators, so I think that Free Shipping Day will become a widely recognized annual event.”

###

Free Shipping Day is an event which represents a shopping holiday late in December when participating retailers guarantee on-time delivery by Christmas Eve to it’s shoppers. The first event – which was held on Thursday, December 18, 2008 – attracted more than 250 retailers and 250,000 unique visitors on the Free Shipping Day web site, including more than 100,000 visitors on the actual day itself. Free Shipping Day 2009 will be held on Thursday, December 17. For more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.

Some of hte over 250 merchants that participated in last years Free Shipping Day include 1-800-Flowers, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Apple Store, Bloomingdales, Brookstone, Charlotte Russe, Coldwater Creek, Create & Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Discovery Store, Dell, eBags, EBGames, Eddie Bauer, EMS, Endless Shoes and Handbags, Fossil, GameStop, Harry & David, J.Crew, Jockey, JoS A Bank, Kohls, Kmart, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Moosejaw, Mrs. Beasley’s, Music123, Nautica, Neiman Marcus, NB Web Express, New York & Company, Nordstrom, Office Depot, Omaha Steaks, Orvis, Pacsun, ReefGear, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Sephora, Sports Authority, Sur la Table, Target, The Body Shop, Urban Outfitters, West Elm and Zappos.

Recap of Free Shipping Day 2008
In 2007 online shopping peaked on December 10th, fifteen days before Christmas. Seeing this as a bad thing for online shopping, Luke Knowles of the popular money-saving website FreeShipping.org had the idea to create a day late in December when merchants would offer free shipping to shoppers with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. He hoped that over time this would convince shoppers that they can shop later into December and have their orders arrive in time for the big day, thus benefiting all involved with online shopping. The first annual Free Shipping Day was Thursday, December 18, 2008.

On December 8, 2008 the FreeShippingDay.com website was launched with 25 participating merchants. Over the next ten days hundreds of blogs and websites, newspapers, radio stations and TV networks ran stories about Free Shipping Day. Because of all the media attention Free Shipping Day received, more than 250 merchants ended up participating and the FreeShippingDay.com website had more than 250,000 visitors including 105,000 on Free Shipping Day itself.

The logos of all participating merchants were displayed on the home page of FreeShippingDay.com. Large and small merchants benefited with an increase in traffic and sales. A few merchants emailed us the day after Free Shipping Day 2008 to let us know just how important Free Shipping Day was for their business.

“I’m the owner of Charm Boutique, one of the merchants who took part in Free Shipping Day. I just wanted to let you know that we had our highest visitors ever on the site yesterday which resulted in great online sales as well.”
-Kari Kraichely of Charm Boutique

“Wow! We tripled our business yesterday! It’s 7pm Eastern time and my
entire staff is still here trying to get all the orders processed and
packed.”
- Julie Swatek of ScrapYourTrip.com

Free Shipping Day can quickly become as big of a shopping holiday as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here are a few ways that merchants can make the most out of Free Shipping Day.

6 Tips for Promoting Free Shipping Day

1. Create a special free shipping offer for Free Shipping Day.
2. Let us know about your involvement in Free Shipping Day as soon as possible so that we can add your offer to the FreeShippingDay.com homepage.
3. Send an email to your newsletter subscribers promoting your “Free Shipping Day” offer.
4. Advertise your “Free Shipping Day” offer on your website.
5. Send out a press release about your involvement in Free Shipping Day to get in on the media excitement about this new shopping day. Luke Knowles, the founder of Free Shipping Day would be happy to provide you with a quote for your press release.
6. Use whatever social channels (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace…) are available to you to promote your involvement in Free Shipping Day.

Fort Collins, CO, December 20, 2008 – When Luke Knowles hatched the idea for Free Shipping Day, he expected a favorable response from merchants and shoppers, but he didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that the event actually received. Free Shipping Day, which was held on December 18, attracted more than 250 merchants and the FreeShippingDay.com web site saw 250,000 hits in a 10-day period, including more than 100,000 on the actual day itself.

“It was so popular that, leading up to December 18, major retailers were approaching us to be part of the event,” said Knowles, who is founder of FreeShipping.org, a one-stop destination for shoppers to find online merchants that offer free shipping deals. “That shows the viability of Free Shipping Day when major companies like Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma reach out to us to participate.”

Free Shipping Day represents a day when participating merchants offer free shipping with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. For merchants, the event extends the online holiday shopping season for another week. For shoppers, the day offers a last chance to purchase gifts and have them reach their intended destination by Christmas Eve.

Merchants large and small embraced Free Shipping Day, which Knowles said will become an annual event. Kari Kraichely of Charm Boutique (www.charm-boutique.com), which sells handmade jewelry and gifts, said her site set a single-day record for traffic because of its participation.

A representative of OhToy.com (www.ohtoy.com) said the presence of his company’s logo on the Free Shipping Day web site created substantial exposure the business otherwise would not have seen.

Julie Swatek of ScrapYourTrip.com (www.scrapyourtrip.com) said her business did three times the sales they normally do in a day.

“We received an enormous amount of online, print and broadcast media coverage, and that created awareness for Free Shipping Day and the merchants that participated,” Knowles said. “Smaller merchants especially benefitted because it was free exposure that introduced them to shoppers who could become repeat customers.”

Knowles is already making plans for the second Free Shipping Day. In January, he will consult with participating retailers and set a date for the December 2009 event. The key is establishing the last possible day that merchants can commit to offering free shipping and getting their items to the intended recipients by Christmas Eve day.

“It is our goal for consumers to become as familiar with Free Shipping Day as they are with Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” Knowles said. “We hope that it becomes an industry-wide event that is not only promoted by us, but also by the hundreds of merchants that are involved.”

###

Free Shipping Day is a first-of-its-kind event which represents a day when participating merchants offer free shipping with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. The first event – which was held on Thursday, December 18, 2008 – attracted more than 250 merchants and 250,000 visitors to the Free Shipping Day web site, including more than 100,000 visitors on the actual day itself. The date for the 2009 Free Shipping Day will be determined in January. For more information, visit www.freeshippingday.com.

Thanks to all the blogs and websites, newspapers, radio stations and tv stations that helped spread the word about Free Shipping Day. Without you only our close friends and relatives would have known about it.

Thanks to the procrastinators who chose to do their online shopping on Free Shipping Day. You have all helped to make this an amazing shopping holiday that we hope will grow into being the next Cyber Monday or Black Friday.

A few highlights:

• More than 250 merchants participated.
• Hundreds of websites, newspapers, radio stations and TV stations helped spread the word about Free Shipping Day.
• Over 100,000 visitors to www.FreeShippingDay.com on Free Shipping Day.
• Over 250,000 visitors to www.FreeShippingDay.com since the site went online December 8th.

We were amazed with the positive response merchants had to the idea of Free Shipping Day. They could see that we were trying to extend online shopping later into December and were quick to get on board with Free Shipping Day. For some merchants, Free Shipping Day was the biggest day of the year for them.

Below are a few quotes from merchants who participated in the event.

“I’m the owner of Charm Boutique, one of the merchants who took part in free shipping day. I just wanted to let you know that we had our highest visitors ever on the site yesterday which resulted in great online sales as well.”
-Kari Kraichely of Charm Boutique

“My affiliation with Free Shipping Day has brought tremendous exposure to OhToy.com.”
-Jonathan of OhToy.com

“Wow! We tripled our business yesterday! It’s 7pm Eastern time and my
entire staff is still here trying to get all the orders processed and
packed.”
- Julie Swatek of ScrapYourTrip.com

Have a merry Christmas!

- Luke Knowles