Target lowers minimum purchase threshold for free shipping

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 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. And they have noted that digital sales have continued to accelerate even after that deal ended.

'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.”

About two-thirds of orders on Target.com already qualify for free shipping. And while the retailer didn't say how many orders would fall within that $25 to $50 zone, company spokesman Eddie Baeb noted that 60 percent of all items on Target.com cost less than $25.

Baeb added that this lower free shipping option may be appealing to customers to get some fill-in items in between their larger weekly shopping trips.

Last summer, Target broadened and simplified its free shipping policy to make nearly all orders of $50 or more eligible for free shipping. Previously, only some items were eligible.