By Esther Fung
Remember that package you ordered last week? It should be arriving any day now.
After years of priming us to expect speedy deliveries, the ever-growing e-commerce economy is weaning us off them -- and no one seems to mind.
The pioneer of same-day delivery -- Amazon -- whose deliveries were so quick that the rest of the industry hustled to match them, now offers some customers a 7% discount if they select a later arrival date.
Gap provides as many as five options, including what it labels "no rush" shipping that its website says can take up to nine business days. It is typically the cheapest option -- or free, depending on the value of goods purchased.
BirdieBall Golf, a retailer that sells putting mats and other golf accessories, offers an economy shipping option with delivery dates that are as long as two weeks from the date of purchase.
Shoppers, it turns out, can be patient if it means saving money.
For years, online retailers were willing to eat the cost of fast shipping in the battle for customers. But shipping costs have increased sharply -- especially for home deliveries -- and offering near-instant gratification for online orders is no longer a sound business strategy for many.
The rise of Chinese e-commerce juggernauts Shein and Temu conditioned shoppers to wait longer for their packages -- and revealed to American businesses that their customers weren't always looking for speedy delivery. Once businesses figured that out, they discovered another secret: Customers who wait are also less likely to return their orders.
"A few years ago the questions were, 'How do you keep up with Amazon's free shipping within two days?' " says Laura Behrens Wu, chief executive officer of Shippo, a shipping platform for e-commerce businesses. "Now, they are looking for 'cheapest' first, and then 'fast' is second."
FedEx and United Parcel Service are a lot of things, but they aren't exactly cheap. UPS Ground and FedEx's Ground Economy are the respective lowest-tier offerings for businesses, where delivery can take one to five business days. Costs for each parcel start at $12.
Those prices have climbed dramatically in recent years. Since 2020, the two leading package carriers have raised their base rates by 4.9% to 6.9% annually. In addition, they have increased their ancillary fees, including fuel surcharges, address-correction fees and an added charge for delivering to residences. They've also imposed stricter rules on package sizes, so that dimensions get rounded up.
FedEx has been explicit in its desire to carry fewer lower-value e-commerce shipments. Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere says the company's goal was to focus on higher-value goods where shippers give priority to speed, precision, visibility and reliability over the lowest price.
"If you're shipping T-shirts, FedEx might not be for you," Carere said in a presentation to analysts and investors last month. "But if you were shipping Oura Rings, FedEx is for you."
An Oura, a smart ring with health sensors, costs between $349 to $499.
The rising costs have sent online retailers in search of cheaper shipping options from the U.S. Postal Service -- whose Ground Advantage option for businesses starts at $5.09 -- and from a growing batch of lesser-known carriers like Veho and Jitsu.
Of more than 1,000 people surveyed by McKinsey in 2024, delivery speed ranked fifth in their online-shopping priorities. Most important to them was shipping cost. In the same survey two years earlier, consumers had cited delivery speed as most important to them, and delivery costs second.
More than 95% of the survey respondents in 2024 said they preferred free standard delivery, typically four to seven days, versus paying for expedited delivery.
"We've definitely noticed a shift," says Matthew Kinneman, CEO of Bully Max, a dog food and supplements retailer. In the past, when retailers couldn't offer free two-day shipping, he says, more shoppers would leave items in their shopping carts without clicking to complete their purchase.
Bully Max experimented last year by giving shoppers wider delivery windows of five to eight business days, but also made sure to communicate the timeline ranges clearly.
"It wasn't a reckless gamble. It was a calculated test," says Kinneman. "Most customers were willing to wait a few extra days as long as expectations were clear and the product delivered real value."
It turns out, "the bigger driver for (cart) abandonment wasn't speed, it was uncertainty," Kinneman says.
Retailers shipped 87% of domestic e-commerce packages on a five-or-more-days delivery schedule in January, compared with 60% two years ago, according to Shipium, a platform that provides logistics support for more than 25 million e-commerce shipments a month.
Giving parcel carriers a broader delivery window gives them more flexibility to wait for a truck that is more full, lowering their per-package cost.
But some days get too busy. Shoppers may notice merchants prompting them to pick Wednesdays or other days later in the week. Delivery networks are typically busier on Mondays and Tuesdays since people tend to order more things over the weekend.
"If you have four to five days, I don't have to stress my network," says Andy Whiting, founder and CEO of last-mile delivery company Better Trucks. An extension can shave off 50 cents or a dollar in costs per package, he says.
Amazon, for example, checks its local networks and often incentivizes shoppers to choose a day that is less busy -- though the company usually still offers a next-day or two-day option, too.
The company markets its longer "no-rush" delivery option that comes with a discount as an environmental choice: Consumers can reduce package waste if purchases are consolidated to fewer boxes. "'No-rush' is one of several delivery options for customers who don't need something right away and appreciate a reward in return -- it's about flexibility when timing isn't critical," an Amazon spokeswoman says.
"Customers sometimes think: Amazon can get this to us in two days, why does it take 10 days?" says Kim Vaccarella, founder of Bogg Bag, which sells square, rubberlike totes. Sometimes, unforeseen delays during transportation extend delivery times even more and they are beyond the merchant's control, but consumers don't see that, she says.
"Prime ruined all of us," says Vaccarella, referring to Amazon's subscription service that offers customers faster delivery. "I would love to get the package to you the next day. But it's just not feasible."
Patagonia offers four shipping options, including one that allows up to 10 business days. The outdoor=clothing company's website claims a longer delivery window to account for unforeseen delays, says Nathan Yamaguchi, a Patagonia spokesman, adding that tracking shows the company's average delivery time is around four days.
"While we do offer two-day shipping, it is not our standard, nor is it ever intended to be," says Yamaguchi. "Instantaneous delivery and cheap shipping are not worth the environmental impact of making it a standard in the industry."
Logistics experts have noticed that part of the shift to accepting longer wait times can be attributed to a new generation of consumers. Gen Z shoppers tend to be more open to it, both because it is cheaper and because of the reduced environmental impact, says Darby Meegan, a general manager at Flexport. Flexport handles fulfillment of e-commerce parcels for thousands of merchants.
Zink Collection, a retailer of small accessories, says it uses the most economical shipping method available and tries to charge customers only part of the shipping cost.
Its bestselling handbasket tote requires a larger protective box to preserve its structured wicker shape. FedEx charges Zink $45, including a so-called dimensional surcharge for the size of the box, for shipping the $625 bag from Florida to California in five days. The fee jumps to $168 for overnight shipping.
"When presented with the cost of expedited service, most are comfortable remaining with standard shipping," says Zink founder Ben Freedland.
New York City resident Kate Caldwell says she picks the slower, cheaper option for nearly everything she buys online, including roasted pistachios, Japanese tea and secondhand books. These items generally take a week or a little more to arrive, she says.
"In life's 'good-fast-cheap' triangle, my first choice is good-cheap," Caldwell says.
"It's a somewhat perverse love of delayed gratification."
IKEA is looking to save money by meeting its customers halfway. For small orders in certain locations, IKEA offers a $2 click-and-collect option. Customers just need to be willing to pick up their order a couple of days later at, say, a nearby Walgreens. The strategy allows IKEA's delivery service to consolidate delivery of multiple items to a single location, saving shipping costs.
Standard home deliveries incur a $10 home-delivery fee and can take around three days or more.
IKEA wants to offer "delivery services designed to fit any budget," says IKEA spokeswoman Catherine Segar.
Veho, a parcel carrier focused on e-commerce deliveries, recently introduced FlexSave, a service that promises an arrival time in a flexible delivery window -- a range of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, for example -- instead of on a fixed day. That allows less-urgent packages on a truck to be bumped to the following day if unforeseen delays occur. Some of Veho's business clients pick this cheaper option so they can, in turn, offer free shipping to their customers, says Veho's CEO, Itamar Zur.
Some retailers say the switch to a lengthier delivery time came with an unexpected benefit: a drop in returns. Casiani, a fur-coat seller, found that returns fell 20% to 30% after it lengthened its delivery time.
"Removing the rush from a transaction attracts a higher-intent buyer, someone who values how long something lasts over how fast it arrives," says Alex Mantziaris, who runs operations at Casiani.
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March 06, 2026 20:00 ET (01:00 GMT)
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