The United States Mint wants to encourage more Web-based sales to enhance the overall experience of its customers as the bureau continues to develop a new, comprehensive, state-of-the-art order management system.

Mint officials announced July 25 that the bureau is offering free standard shipping and will reduce its “expedited” shipping fee by $4.95 on all domestic Web orders placed during the period from 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time July 26 through 5 p.m. EDT Sept. 30.

Free standard shipping during this period applies only to orders placed online at http://catalog.usmint.gov/ normally carrying a standard shipping fee of $4.95. Expedited orders are normally charged an expedited shipping fee of $12.95 plus $4.95. Customers will still be charged the $12.95 for expedited shipping; under the discount, customers will not have to pay the extra $4.95 fee.

Free standard shipping will also be offered for subscription orders generated during the promotional period. The free standard shipping promotion does not apply to international shipments, including those to Canada.

The Web-only promotion is designed to encourage U.S. Mint customers to purchase products online and may recur in future promotions, according to Mint officials.

In August, the Mint will launch redesigned and simplified shopping cart Web pages to make it easier for shoppers to complete the checkout process, officials said.

The Web Site and Shopping Cart Improvement Project began in September 2012. Mint officials state, “Improvements have included an integrated global navigation, easy-to-read product pages with more images, site and product search improvements and much more.”

See the Mint’s website for more details at www.usmint.gov/web
siteinfo/improvements/. ¦