The Free Shipping War

At the beginning of March, a war broke out among retailers who were revising their shipping policies to meet Wal-Mart's new "Site to Store" program, which offers consumers the opportunity to shop at Walmart.com and receive select items at select local stores, free of charge.

Some retailers, such as Sears, reacted by reminding consumers that a similar program has been going on at their stores for years. Other stores, such as Home Depot, who has had major consumer service issues of late, has been slow to take notice.

It seems to me to be one of those "no-brainers" for retail stores to offer free shipping to local stores if you shop online. Here is why:

1. If someone is too lazy or too busy to see if their local store has the product in stock, so elected to shop online, it is not going to cost the retailer any additional shipping costs. All they have to do is check the local store's inventory and mark the product as sold.

2. Retailers spend bundles on trying to get consumers into their stores. Once you are at the store where you are picking up your purchase, chances are you will spend more money while you are there. If they were really smart they would hand you an in-store coupon, good for that day, along with your online purchase.

Which Big Retailers Get It and Which Totally Do Not Get It

At the beginning of March, Wal-Mart announced the first phase of the Site to Store rollout, with more than 750 stores offering the service in the states of New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and select areas of Texas, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.

Wal-Mart will activate additional stores throughout the U.S. over the next several months and complete the national rollout to more than 3,300 stores by late summer. Wal-Mart customers in the announced states, can now shop and purchase products online at Walmart.com, and have them shipped to Wal-Mart stores for free.

In response to Wal-Mart's announcement, Sears responded by reiterated support for its five-minute guarantee, which offers customers who purchase a variety of available merchandise on sears.com and get a guaranteed five-minute in-store pick up. Sears has been offering customers the ability to buy online and pick up in-store for more than five years.

Best Buy has free shipping on select items when you pick up your purchase from your local store. They advertise an average 45 minutes for your purchase to be ready for pick up, but do not guarantee it. They also advertise that some stores have special parking places and a special check-out desk designated for prompt pick up.

Circuit City has taken it one more step and not only offers free shipping, but your purchase will be ready in 24 minutes from the time you order it or you get a $24 gift certificate. This does not include the time you have to wait in line and the 24 minutes begins by the time which appears on your confirmation e-mail. You can read other exclusions and specifications by visiting the 24 minute Pickup Guarantee Web page.

Lowes.com offers similar shipping promotions as Wal-Mart and Sears, but without the Sears' five-minute guarantee. You can eliminate all shipping costs if you pick up your purchases at your local Lowes. After you have placed your order and received your confirmation e-mail, go to your local Lowes and stop by the Customer Service Desk.

Office Depot offers a standard free-shipping policy to your home or business, if your order is over $50 and you live within their local trading areas.

Kohl's, Macys and Target have free shipping offers from different departments at different times of the year, but I was unable to locate any offers for free shipping on store pick ups.

Home Depot's sometimes advertises promotions for free shipping on store pick ups, but not as a standard policy.

Since Wal-Mart's announcement, a noticeable increase in free shipping offers with a defined minimum amount of purchase is being seen on national retail Web sites.

Important Note: Since store promotions can change without notice, please visit the shipping pages on all company Web sites listed above to get specific charges or policies before making a purchase, or call the companies' customer service numbers.