LL Bean launches free shipping for US, Canadian orders

LL Bean introduced free standard shipping without a minimum purchase amount to all US and Canadian addresses on March 25.

The multichannel retailer will also increase Visa cardmember benefits by doubling rewards on purchases made with LL Bean Visa cards. Program members will earn 1% everywhere Visa is accepted when they use the LL Bean Visa and 3% on LL Bean purchases, in addition to other member benefits such as free monogramming and free return shipping, the company said in a statement.

LL Bean tested free shipping offers with no minimum purchase and found customer response to be overwhelming, the retailer said in a statement. LL Bean did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Larry Joseloff, VP of content at Shop.org, said he expects free shipping to become an industry norm in the next five years.

“Free shipping is the most popular promotion in digital,” he said. “It's becoming a customer expectation.”

However, free shipping is also a gamble for retailers, said Joseloff, because they could be forced to sacrifice profit to gain a larger volume of orders. “But it can serve as a differentiator,” he added.