A record number of consumers are expected to shop online
tomorrow to take advantage of all the Cyber Monday sales, deals and promotions. 100 million people are expected to fire up their computers and cellphones and give their credit cards a workout.
Nearly 100 million shoppers are projected to hit the web on Monday to seek out heavily discounted merchandise as retailers continue their efforts to build holiday momentum.
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, which coined the phrase five years ago and has been tracking the day's action since.
Just about all retailers plan some kind of promotion on their sites, whether it be pure online stores or web units of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, with many offering free shipping.
Many shoppers are expected to do their online buying through their cell phones, a sharply growing phenomenon that was also seen during Black Friday.
Cyber Monday is one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, but generally not the biggest.
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.
Walmart.com, which is making a huge push this year, and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), the biggest online retailer by revenue, have been cited among those seeing some of the heaviest volume heading into Cyber Monday.
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"Online retailers have been working overtime to make sure their Cyber Monday promotions are enticing," recognizing stepped up competition for customers who are still pretty cash strapped, said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, a unit of the National Retail Federation.
Heading into Cyber Monday, consumers spent $595 million online during Black Friday, an 11% increase from a year ago, according to web tracker ComScore.
The use of smartphones for shopping gives a new facet to Cyber Monday shopping this year. Most retailers are prepared for tomorrow's assault on their servers; hopefully there won't be any major Kohl's type website disasters.
You can find more Cyber Monday deals listed on ShoppersShop.com's handy Cyber Monday Deals Chart.
