Last year, Amazon in the States raised the minimum free shipping threshold from $35 to $49. But it seems that increased competition from retail giant WalMart has made the ecommerce titan reassess its position and now the minimum has been reduced back to the $35 level.
It’s in response to Walmart’s removal of the ShippingPass program. That was a subscription service akin to Amazon Prime. For an annual fee of $50 you could get 3-5 day free shipping but none of the music and video perks of Prime. When Walmart removed the service they reduced the minimum free shipping level to $35 and also made it a 2 day service.
In response Amazon have restored their $35 minimum shopping spend in the US. The limit is £20 in the UK with 3 to 5 business days.
It’s interesting that Amazon does seem to see a competitor in Walmart. But there are few companies that do have the infrastructure and pockets to challenge them. It seems unlikely that there will be a similar reduction in the UK on free shipping. Not least because £20 is in the $35 zone but because there isn’t a similar UK challenger. Will one emerge?
