Didn’t brave the crowds on Black Friday? Lucky for you, it’s Cyber Monday. Photo: Corbis
Black Friday has come and gone, but if you still haven’t made a dent in your holiday shopping list, there’s always Cyber Monday (that would be today).
Cyber Monday has become to e-commerce what Black Friday is to brick-and-mortar shopping — a giant boost to a retailer’s bottom line and the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season.
Why it’s Monday, not Saturday or Sunday, boils down to the fact that people more frequently access the Internet from their work computers.
However, there’s a change brewing this year. With high-speed Internet in about 60 percent of U.S. homes, according to Strategy Analytics, Web shoppers don’t need to wait until Monday for the super steals — that’s why so many retailers offered great online deals over the Black Friday weekend.
Still, Mondays, in general, rack up higher online spending than any other day of the week. And while people may have high-speed Internet in their homes, they still take time to shop from work.
A survey by Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation, says 96.5 million Americans plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from 85 million in 2008.
That’s a lot of slacking off for those of you with desk jobs! (But when it comes to scoring an online deal, we don’t blame you.)
Shop.org also reports that 87.1 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, compared with 83.7 percent last year and 72.2 percent in 2007.
This shopping medium, however, is expected to experience a slight downturn overall from last year. According to a Neilsen Survey, 63 percent of shoppers surveyed plan to buy holiday gifts online versus last year’s 71 percent.
Because it’s the Internet, there’s always someone out there organizing a way to find the best deals around. This season, check out the National Retail Federation’s CyberMonday.com.
The site has an extraordinary listing of who’s offering what on Cyber Monday and beyond, plus helpful links to get you there. Incentives like free shipping are de rigueur.
And with Black Friday weekend falling short of many retailers’ expectations — the NRF says 195 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the Thanksgiving holiday, which was 23 million more than last year, but spending per person was down to $343.31 from $372.57 — today is all the more important.
Our advice: You can definitely find some great bargains today, but don’t buy without shopping around first.
Cyber Monday – Your Boss Is Coming, Look Busy! originally appeared on StyleList on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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