Thanksgiving, the traditional kick-off of the U.S. holiday shopping period, falls on Nov. 28 this year, a week later than last year’s Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas day. The last shortened shopping season was in 2013 - a year when retail chains and delivery companies scrambled to get packages to shoppers in time for Christmas.
Retailers’ urgency to avoid a repeat of 2013 is on full display as is the rush to compete with Amazon, which began rolling out free one-day shipping on over 10 million products in June. The holiday season spanning November and December can account for as much as 40 percent of annual sales.
For the first time, Target is offering its “Drive Up” service, which lets shoppers order on the Target app and have their items brought to their car, in all 50 states. The company said most orders will be ready within an hour and brought out in less than two minutes upon arrival. That will be in addition to free shipping with no minimum purchase, order pickup on online purchases and same-day delivery services.
