Amazon announces free shipping option for regular customers

Internet retailing giant Amazon announced a free shipping option for regular customers.

The company will ship small items weighing no more than 8 ounces (230 grams) and priced $10 and below free within the US. In addition to being cheap and light weight, items must also fit within the dimensions of 9in x 6in x 2in.

Amazon Prime is an annual subscription that offers free two-day shipping on millions of products, unlimited photo storage, Prime Instant Video, Amazon Prime Music, Kindle First and the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

The new initiative dubbed as 'Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light' is available for all customers, even if they are not Prime subscribers.

The company hopes free shipping would appeal to customers who remain concerned with the shipping prices that are more than item's price. These items include earplugs, makeup, or phone accessories.

Orders that qualify for the new Small and Light option will still be delivered within the same 4 to 8 days timeframe. According to the company, the items will be shipped from their new hub in Kentucky.

The majority of items that will qualify for Small and Light shipping are from third-party merchants that give Amazon a cut of their sales in exchange for handling storage, packing, and shipping logistics.

Though this free shipping option, Amazon. com would be able to attract shoppers with fewer budgets. They might also be more inclined to finalize the sales of products after seeing 'free shipping'.

The company also mentioned that they might provide a similar shipping option in the UK. However, it would come with different pricing structure.