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Retailers Gear Up With Cyber Monday Deals
November 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on November 22, 2010
Black Friday looms this week, but according to one survey close to nine in 10 retailers are gearing up with special promotions aimed at capturing shoppers on Cyber Monday.
According to Shop.org's eHoliday Survey, 88.2 percent of retailers will have a special online promotion for Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving. That's a significant jump from 72.2 percent in 2007.
"When Shop.org coined "Cyber Monday" to illustrate the trend of people shopping online on Monday after Thanksgiving, we never imagined it would become such a popular phrase in the retail dictionary," said Joan Broughton, interim executive director of Shop.org. "Today, Cyber Monday has become such a crucial component of the holiday season that many retailersand shoppersdont remember the holidays without it. And just when we think that Cyber Monday cant get any bigger, it does.
Cyber Monday, a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, began after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the online equivalent to Black Friday: the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season when shoppers flood Web sites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling online holiday offers.
Although many will opt to shop for holiday gifts online from home, many Americans also set aside time over lunch hours or at the end of the day to shop online from work. According to the survey, 54.5 percent of workers with Internet access, or 70.1 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from the office this year. Employees most likely to shop from work include men (56.5 percent) and young adults 25-34 (71.8 percent).
Even though much of the Cyber Monday shopping is shifting to early mornings and late nights, theres something to be said for being able to shop online for holiday gifts without worrying about curious children or spouses looking over your shoulder, said Phil Rist, executive vice president, strategic initiatives for BIGresearch, the company that conducted the survey. Many businesses understand that Americans work and personal lives are merging, and would rather have employees shopping online at work than driving all over town during their lunch hour looking for the perfect gift.