Cyber Monday Sales, Deals, Leads and Links: Prep for a Plan of Action

As the holiday weekend entered its final hours, Brandon shoppers were alerted to the fact that for cost-conscious commerce, the tidings run into Monday as well.

Take, for example, the changing signs at Walgreens drug stores, advertising in-store sales as well as "cyber deals" set for Monday, Nov. 28.

“Cyber Monday” is seen as the online equivalent to “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, when box retailers open their doors in the off hours with steep discounts to create a buzz for holiday shopping.

That buzz is brought online in earnest on Cyber Monday, with hopes to further the passion for buying in the virtual world.

Cyber Monday follows “Small Business Saturday,” an effort started by American Express to support small business shop owners in their head-to-head battle with national chains.

All of which makes for an interesting shopping season.

Here's five things to know about 2011 Cyber Monday, Nov. 28:

Coining the Term ‘Cyber Monday’

• Credit Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, for the term, “Cyber Monday.” "Though Shop.org gave the Monday after Thanksgiving a name, it hardly created the trend,” the division notes in an online fact sheet. That trend was recognized years ago, “when many retailers saw spikes in sales and traffic as consumers went back to work after the Thanksgiving Day holiday.” Shoppers are encouraged to visit CyberMonday.com for Cyber Monday promotions, noting that “more than 700 well-known retailers are promoting special savings and discounts for shoppers this year on the site.”

Cyber Monday Shopping Strategy

• Get serious about Cyber Monday shopping with research and apps aimed to help shoppers build a better strategy, advises an online post from CBS news. Noted for their highlighted deals are CyberMonday.com and CyberMonday2011.com. Moreover, “must-have apps” for holiday hopping are duly noted, including one for “sage advice” about electronics, an app that lets you “mark products on the site of a supported retailer” and ways to “double-check prices elsewhere,” recognizing that special promotions might not be the best game in town. Caution is urged as well, as the report notes a study about employees being fired for “using the Internet for non-work activity “and for holiday shopping. Alternative strategies are discussed (i.e. use your personal smartphone and shop on your lunch break).

Holiday Spending Online: $12.7 Billion and Counting

• While holiday shoppers talked with their feet, they also talked with their clicks, spending some $12.7 billion online for the first 25 days of November, according to comScore, a company that measures the digital world. That spending marked a 15 percent increase over the same time period last year. “Black Friday (Nov. 25) saw $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26 percent increase versus Black Friday 2010,” comScore reports. “Thanksgiving Day, while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 18 percent increase to $479 million.”

2010 Cyber Monday Sets an  Online Spending Record

• Last year Cyber Monday reached $1.028 billion in online spending, up 16 percent from a year ago, “representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the first to surpass the billion-dollar threshold,” according to comScore, a company that measures the digital world.

2011 Cyber Monday Prediction

• Andrew Lipsman of comScore predicts that Cyber Monday 2011 will be "another big spending day that will fall within the top three days of the year." He adds that with "relatively high number of shopping days between Christmas and New Year’s this year, it is likely that some of the early demand is smoothed out and that several of the days later in the season will contend with Cyber Monday." Lipsman concludes that he "would not be surprised to see [Cyber Monday spending] reach a level of $1.2 billion." 

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