Best Buy again unleashes two-day free shipping before holidays

Best Buy will once again offer free two-day shipping on most items in the final home stretch leading up to Christmas.

The expedited shipping, which the Richfield-based electronics chain also offered in the final days of the last two holiday shopping seasons, will go live on Thursday and will run through 11:30 a.m. (Eastern time) Wednesday, December 21, which is Best Buy's deadline for orders to arrive in time for Christmas.

It should also be noted that Best Buy has been saying for months that many of its online orders already now get to customers within 2 days. The faster shipping has been the result of an overhaul of its supply chain by shipping items directly from stores in addition to warehouses.

Still, Carly Charlson, a Best Buy spokeswoman, said that this year's holiday two-day free shipping promotion is being extended to more products. Items such as movies and music were not included in last year's program are included in this year's push.

For customers who miss the deadline for online orders, there is still the tried and true option of going to the store. This year, Best Buy customers can place orders online for in-store pickup as late as 4 p.m. Christmas Eve. Most stores will close at 6 p.m. that night.