Nordstrom eliminates online shipping fees

What's not to like about free?

Shipping fees imposed by online retailers are like taxes: No one likes to pay them.

Nordstrom customers, who have been paying for shipping on orders under $200, now won't have to foot the fees at all, the company announced yesterday, although applicable sales taxes will continue to be collected.

"Free shipping is reflective of how customers increasingly want to shop online and we hope this change makes it easier and more convenient to shop with us," says Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct, in a press release

The Seattle Weekly puts Nordstrom's decision in context:

A handful of other big-name retailers offer across-the-board free shipping, including shoe-purveyor Zappos. But there aren't many. Macy's, for one, charges $8 for shipping orders under $99. Target and the Gap family of companies both charge for shipping on orders under $50. At Amazon, shipping is free, but only if you're buying more than $25 worth of stuff. Walmart offered free shipping last year during the holiday season, but reverted to its "No Free Shipping for Americans" policy at the start of the year.

Of course, just because the shipping fees are going away doesn't mean Nordstrom's shipping costs will be doing the same, and one can reasonably assume the retailer will recoup in some fashion whatever portion of those costs it deems necessary.

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