We are still technically still in the summer, but Amazon is already thinking about Christmas. According to the Associated Press, the online retail giant has just announced that it will give customers the opportunity to skip the Christmas tree farm tour of this holiday season and order live trees online.
Amazon has sold about three feet of live Christmas trees before, and there are bigger trees on the site through third-party vendors. This year, the company is becoming a major player in the real Christmas tree market. Starting in November, Amazon shoppers can choose to buy Balsam fir, Black Hills spruce or Norfolk Island pine directly from the company. The highest product, the seven-foot Fraser Fir, costs $115.
All of Amazon’s trees will be wrapped and delivered within 10 days of being felled, which means they will still be alive when they arrive. Like other Amazon products, trees will be shipped in cardboard boxes. Some people are even eligible for a free two-day delivery service from Amazon Prime members – just in case you are the kind of person who decorates their home at the last minute. If you are a person who likes to complete holiday shopping as early as possible, Amazon will also offer pre-orders.
As for the independent Christmas tree farm will become the next industry possibility brought by online retail, the tree farmers are not worried. The National Christmas Tree Association told the Associated Press that it is estimated that only about 1% to 2% of all living trees purchased last year were ordered online.