Target heats up free-shipping war

Target Corp. is raising the online shopping stakes with the announcement Monday that it is lowering its free-shipping threshold on online orders to $25 from $50.

In doing so, the Minneapolis-based retailer now offers a more competitive free shipping offer than rivals Wal-Mart, which has a $50 minimum to qualify for free shipping; Amazon, which has a $35 minimum; and Best Buy, which has a $35 minimum.

Target’s move comes a couple of months after it ended its bold holiday promotion of free shipping on any size order. Target executives have said that offer helped lead to a 40 percent increase in digital sales in the fourth quarter.

“We saw an enthusiastic response to our free shipping offer over the holidays,” Jason Goldberger, president of Target.com and mobile, said in a statement. “Now, whether guests are stocking up or doing fill-in shopping, we’ve enhanced our year-round shipping offer to be one of the best in all of retail.”

— From wire reports