CRITIQUE: LL Bean offers year round free shipping

For my critique I chose the blog about outdoor merchandise companys, LL Bean, and their decision to offer free shipping on any and every order no matter what the quantity or size of shipment. LL Bean is now joining another online apparel company, Zappos.com, to offer a no strings attached free shipping agreement. Although this tactic may work for a short while, I am skeptical to say that LL Bean can continue to pay for the shipping fees for every order without noticing a decrease in their profit margin. This may give them a brief advantage to other substitute competitors, but how could a company know that the other online, catalog stores will not jump on the bandwagon of free no strings attached shipping. With LL Bean being one of the only companies with this offer of free shipping, it will have an advantage over a substitute company because the customer will more likely take the free shipping offer with LL Bean since they offer the same products. I do agree that customers are more likely to "trash" their shopping cart due to the high expenses of shipping and handling; I am guilty of that myself. Especially during holiday seasons, on top of the great deals from sale prices, many companies offer free shipping to online customers. It could be said that this is an example of expansionary policy for the apparel world. The companies want to help stimulate the sale of goods and by doing this more consumers purchase more because they feel like they are getting more for their money. LL Bean chief marketing officer, Steve Fuller, stated that the company was on the fence about offering this free shipping for a few years and they occasionally offered it to see how the customer base would react. Many customers took advantage of this offer and it allowed the decision of the company to be much easier. The fact that LL Bean listened to its customers may also get a higher loyal customer base even if its competitors decide to jump on the bandwagon of free shipping. With the 5.8% increase in sales already from last year, LL Bean is counting on the free shipping to boost sales even more and plan on the increase in sales to offset the cost of providing free shipping. Overall, I feel that LL Bean is making a smart decision by offering free shipping to customers during this economic downfall.