The FINANCIAL — Today is Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving that's known as one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. The record 96.5 million online shoppers that are expected would top the 85 million visitors during last year's Cyber Monday, according to Shop.org.
The strong start for web retailers should continue into what is otherwise expected to be a lackluster holiday season, benefiting Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) online unit and Google Inc (GOOG.O), analysts said, Reuters reports. Analytics firm comScore said Sunday that U.S. online spending on Black Friday was the strongest it has ever been, up 11 percent over the prior year, with $595 million spent online. Sales at retail stores rose 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion on that day, the official kick-off to holiday shopping, according to ShopperTrak.
"That's pretty significant in a recessionary environment — to get a record like that and be that far ahead," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "I still expect Monday should be a much bigger day online than Black Friday." Cyber Monday is the day when many consumers head back to work after the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend and use fast Internet connections to make holiday purchases, away from the prying eyes of spouses and children, according to the same source. The day has always spurred a flood of special online offers, but this year more are showing up even earlier, experts said.
Cyber Monday is one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, but generally not the biggest, The Wall Street Journal wrote. Raul Vazquez, chief executive of Walmart.com, the online unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), expects a solid Cyber Monday and heavier traffic on days closer to Christmas.
Best Buy continues to wow customers with some of the most impressive Cyber Monday deals & discounts yet on everything in their store including Computers, Home Theaters, Musical Instruments, Cameras, Camcorders, Mobile Phones, iPods, MP3 players, Music, Movies, Video Games, Home Appliances, GPS Systems and more. Discounts go as high as $1000 off on select popular items, according to News Trends Today. Best Buy’s Cyber Sunday Deals include the Asus Eee PC Netbook for only 249.99, 299.99 for an Averatec Desktop Computer, $500 off Samsung 46″ LCD HDTV with Blu-Ray Player and much much more.
Best Buy has typically had some of the most successful Cyber Monday Deals in the past due to their smart packaging of items like complete packages including HDTVs, DVD Players and DVD Videos (or Blu-Ray Players and Blu-Ray Videos), or Laptop Computers, Wireless Speakers and Wireless Keyboard/Mouse sets, the same source reports.
Last year, online spending on Cyber Monday rose 15 percent to $846 million, according to comScore, Reuters informs. A savvier consumer that recognizes that some doorbuster deals offered by retailers in stores won't last long due to lower inventory levels this year could also be driving sales.
"If you didn't get it at 6 a.m. (in stores) you can probably get it at 9 a.m. on Macys.com," said Amanda Pires, a spokeswoman for eBay Inc (EBAY.O) online payments unit PayPal, which found that Black Friday payment volume rose 20 percent, with a 25 percent gain on Thanksgiving, according to the same source. "There were some great Black Friday deals and people were out early to get them," Pires said. "That mentality has spilled over into the online world."
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