Survey: 64 Percent Say Free Shipping Is the Most Effective Promotion for the Holiday Season

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - November 11, 2010) - Free shipping is the most effective sales promotion heading in to the holiday season according to Stamps.com® (NASDAQ: STMP), the leading provider of USPS® postage online and shipping software to approximately 400,000 customers. In its latest survey on e-commerce shipping practices, Stamps.com found that 64 percent of respondents report that free shipping, with or without minimum spend, is the most effective promotion they can offer during the holiday season, and 53 percent will be offering free shipping on more products this year compared to last holiday season. More than half (52 percent) of the survey respondents who use free shipping with minimum spend report their average order size increases by at least $4.

"In today's economic climate, customers are extremely value conscious," said Stamps.com president and CEO, Ken McBride. "More and more e-commerce retailers are discovering that free shipping is good for their margins, so long as they have an efficient and affordable way to process and ship their orders."

Other significant findings include:

• Of merchants offering free shipping with a minimum spend, 66 percent of respondents require an order value of $50 or higher.
• 29 percent of the respondents will offer free shipping on orders of any size, no minimum purchase required.
• 82 percent of e-commerce merchants expect to have international sales.
• For merchants using social media this holiday season, 54 percent plan to use the channel to drive sales.

This survey was sent to current Stamps.com customers that operate an e-commerce store. The survey was conducted from October 21-28, 2010. See the detailed survey findings at http://blog.stamps.com/2010/11/10/ecommerce-holiday-shipping-survey/

About Stamps.com
Stamps.com (NASDAQ: STMP) is a leading provider of Internet-based postage services. Stamps.com's service enables small businesses, high-volume shippers, enterprise shippers, and consumers to print U.S. Postal Service-approved postage with just a PC, printer and Internet connection, right from their home or office. The Company targets its services to small businesses and home offices, and currently has PC Postage partnerships with Avery Dennison, Microsoft, HP, Office Depot, USPS and others.

Stamps.com, the Stamps.com logo and PhotoStamps are trademarks or registered trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.