Is Free Shipping FREE

For many online shops, the cost of a free shipment is either folded into the prices for items or funded by investors. Jerry Storch, CEO of Hudson’s Bay Company, a brick-and-mortar giant that includes Canada’s The Bay department store, Lord & Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue, says it’s much more expensive for retailers like them to deliver products to a customer’s front door than to have them shop in the store. For the retailers that can pay for it, he says, free shipping is becoming a loss leader.