After waiting until the last second to finish your holiday shopping last year, you had good intentions to cross all of the items off your list early this year. However, you find yourself in the same predicament once again - watching the clock tick down towards Christmas as you scurry to buy those final gifts. You're not alone. We are a nation of procrastinators, especially when it comes to holiday shopping. Free Shipping Day was created just for you.

Free Shipping Day (FreeShippingDay.com), a first-of-its-kind event that represents the last possible 24-hour period when online shoppers can place their orders with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. The inaugural Free Shipping Day is set for Thursday, December 18, 2008. It will become an annual event.

Retailers have embraced the idea, which was hatched by Luke Knowles, founder of FreeShipping.org (FreeShipping.org), a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. Participating merchants include brands like Amazon.com, Bloomingdale's, Brookstone, Circuit City, Coldwater Creek, Crate & Barrel, Endless.com, Nordstrom, Sur La Table, Target and Zappos.

December 18 is Free Shipping Day, a first-of-its-kind event designed for holiday shopping procrastinators

Holiday shopping procrastinators now have a day designed especially for them. The inaugural Free Shipping Day (FreeShippingDay.com) - which is set for December 18, 2008, and will be an annual event - is a reward for people who wait until the last minute to cross those final gifts off their list.

On Free Shipping Day participating merchants give free shipping to online shoppers with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve.

Retailers have embraced the idea, which was hatched by Luke Knowles, founder of FreeShipping.org (FreeShipping.org), a one-stop destination for consumers to find online retailers that offer free shipping deals. Participating merchants include brands like Amazon.com, Bloomingdale's, Brookstone, Circuit City, Coldwater Creek, Crate & Barrel, Endless.com, Nordstrom, Sur La Table, Target and Zappos.

Black Friday, which is the frenetic time when consumers descend upon stores the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, which commemorates the Monday after Thanksgiving when people return to their offices and surf the Internet for deals, are now a part of American pop culture. Knowles believes it is natural that Free Shipping Day will also become part of our nation’s holiday shopping vocabulary.

“Simply put, Free Shipping Day is the last chance for many people to buy gifts and get them delivered to the intended recipient in a nick of time,” Knowles explained. “We are a nation of procrastinators, so I think that Free Shipping Day will become a popular annual event.”

There is also a need among retailers for an event like Free Shipping Day, Knowles believes.

“Numbers show that online shopping dramatically slows after December 12th. Free Shipping Day will encourage people to continue buying items online later into the month of December,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day has the potential to increase pre- Christmas online sales by hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years.”

Next year’s Free Shipping Day will be selected in January 2009, Knowles says. There is no cost for retailers or shoppers to participate.

“Every year, we will consult with participating retailers to determine the latest possible day in the Christmas shopping season that they can offer free shipping and guarantee delivery by December 24th,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day will typically fall somewhere between December 17th and 19th.”