Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Aiming for Amazon Prime, GSI's ShopRunner Launches Web Shipping Service for Retailers

Taking aim at Amazon Prime's free shipping services, ShopRunner (SR), owned by Pennsylvania-based GSI Commerce, has launched a competing service with a set of 15 retail partners, including Rockport, Bare Necessities and the NFL, plus an additional 27, such as Borders, Barnes&Noble, and Dick's Sporting Goods, scheduled to launch soon, reports DailyFinance.

SR is offering a 30-day free trial of two-day shipping and free returns for an unlimited number of items from its retail partners. After the trial, SR will charge members $79 a year.

GSI is spending about $5 million on SR and will split some of the subscription revenue with its member companies, SR President Mike Golden told The Wall Street Journal. He declined to say how much stores are paying for the service.

SR will manage the logistical and bookkeeping to account for all shipments, while each retailer will be responsible for their own shipping, updating SR on each member's purchases, and abiding SR's service standards. "There are lots of pieces that you have to figure out," Clay Cowan, VP eCommerce at The Sports Authority, told The WSJ. "That's one reason we view this as a pilot and will see how it goes."

No comments:

Web Analytics