Survey: Free shipping will be a major online promotion

What promotion would you like online retailers to offer this holiday season? The results of the 2007 eHoliday Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shop.org and Shopzilla, indicate that almost two-thirds of online shoppers says that they are hoping for free shipping. And it seems like they'll get their wish. The same survey reports that 78.6% of retailers plan to offer free shipping with conditions (conditions include free shipping for certain items or a certain dollar amount). Other shipping offers include free shipping upgrades, discounted shipping and free shipping without conditions. You can also expect other promotions retailers including online-only sales, early shopper discounts, repeat-buyer discounts and special promotions for referring a friend.

Retailers are also planning to make the links between their stores and websites more direct than ever before. Four out of five online retailers with physical stores say they will offer in-store advertising for their websites and email registration for customers who do not yet subscribe. Many also plan to have salespeople be able to place an online order for a customer or let customers order online from the store themselves through in-store web kiosks.