What’s in the Amazon box? Maybe a 7-foot real Christmas tree

Talk about big-box retailing. Amazon plans to sell and ship fresh, full-size Christmas trees this year. 

Amazon said the Christmas trees, including Douglas firs and Norfolk Island pines, will be bound and shipped without water. Watch out for the 7-foot box on the doorstep.

Amazon said the trees will be sent within 10 days of being cut down and should survive the shipping just fine.

Amazon said the trees, wreaths and garlands will go on sale in November. Some will qualify for Prime free shipping, and Amazon will offer pre-orders so shoppers can choose a delivery date.

The company sold trees shorter than 3 feet last year, and some other merchants sold bigger ones using its platform as a marketplace. But this is the first year Amazon is offering the larger trees itself.

“Given the popularity among customers, we increased the assortment,” the company said.

A 7-foot Fraser fir from a North Carolina farm will cost $115, according to an Amazon holiday preview book.

In 2016 across the U.S., 27.4 million real Christmas trees were sold. The most popular varieties were Noble and Fraser firs, and consumers reported spending an average of $74.70 for a tree.

Wisconsin ranks fifth in the U.S. behind Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the number of Christmas trees it produces each year. 

Christmas trees that are primarily grown in Wisconsin include balsam, Fraser and Canaan fir, Scotch pine, white pine and spruce. 

A spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Tree Producers Association in Portage said she was not aware of any arrangements that state growers might have to supply trees to Amazon. 

Each year, Wisconsin growers typically produce about 700,000 fresh-cut Christmas trees with an estimated total value of about $16.2 million. In addition, growers here produce about 600,000 wreaths. 

Christmas trees are grown as a crop, with the intention to cut them. They are grown in rows with 6-foot spacing between the trees.

Christmas tree delivery is nothing new. Entrepreneurs in Wisconsin have been delivering trees locally since at least 2010. 

RELATED:Christmas tree delivery services find growth in Wisconsin

RELATED:Did Wisconsin tree growers save Christmas?

But Amazon has a history of shaking up shopping habits. It changed how people buy books, diapers and many other goods. It recently expanded the selection of live plants it sells, including potted succulents and orchids.

So, will people buy a Christmas tree sight unseen from Amazon?

Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association, said picking out a tree and hauling it back home is part of the fun for families.

The association estimates that only about 1 to 2 percent of the real Christmas trees purchased last year were bought online, mostly from growers' own sites.

“It’s so small, it’s almost undetectable,” O’Connor said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.