Dive Brief:

• Electronics retailer Best Buy as of this past weekend has announced free two-day shipping on thousands of items, with a minimum order of $35.

• The move is similar to one by Target, which began offering free shipping with no minimum order well ahead of Thanksgiving, and of course counters Amazon’s free shipping with minimum orders and free two-day shipping for Prime members.

• Best Buy has already found success taking on Amazon in fulfillment speed since launching its ship-from-store capabilities last year. 

Dive Insight:

Brick-and-mortar retailers have come to find that their stores are assets when it comes to speeding up fulfillment of orders. Shipping is a key way for physical retailers to compete with their online competitors, most conspicuously Amazon. These programs will ding the bottom line, but they could go far in coaxing customers to buy online.