by Xinhua writer Yang Lei
NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- As people bid farewell to the Thanksgiving weekend's shopping spree and go back to work, the competition to win customers does not die down, but fire up.
Web traffic is reported to surge by 43 percent on Cyber Monday, online retailers' version of Black Friday, when more and more people hunt for bargains in the virtual world.
Cyber Monday was coined by the U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) in 2005 in a move to brand the year's most lucrative day of e-commerce. Usually retailers will offer big discounts, free shipping and various perks to attract consumers.
Last year, retailers online or offline were severely hurt as recession forced consumers to cut back on holiday shopping. This year, NRF said more consumers went shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but spent less than last year as they hunted for bargains.
According to the trade group, the average shopper spent 343.31 U.S. dollars in stores and online over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, less than the 372.57 dollars spent during the same period last year, which put Black Friday weekend sales at 41.2 billion dollars, versus 41 billion dollars for 2008.
However, the NRF estimates that 96.5 million Americans shopped online on Monday this year, up from the 85 million in 2008.
Though online sales only count for about 10 percent of the holiday shopping pie, they have seen most of the growth so far this year -- an encouraging sign after last year's first online sales decline.
The NRF is sticking with its previous forecast that holiday sales will slip one percent compared with last year, meaning online sales actually could grow at the expense of traditional shops.
The importance of Cyber Monday cannot be underestimated. A survey released last week found 87.1 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 83.7 percent last year and 72.2 percent in 2007.
Among the most popular promotions, about 43 percent of retailers will have specific deals; nearly one third offer one-day sales; and 16 percent of online retailers will deliver all consumers' purchases for free.
In New York trading, online retail giant Amazon.com, Inc. reached an all time high as its shares gained 4.17 dollars, or 3.17 percent, to 135.91 dollars at Monday's close.
In contrast, traditional chain stores Target Corporation and Macy's Inc. saw their shares falling 2.39 percent and 3.89 percent, respectively. The largest U.S. chain store, Wal-Mart, which revved up promotions on its walmart.com site this year, was better off with only a slight decrease.
"Americans appreciate the convenience of shopping online, which doesn't require standing in line, circling for a parking spot, or even changing out of your pajamas," said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org.
"Online retailers have been working overtime to make sure their Cyber Monday promotions are enticing, so shoppers can expect incredible bargains on popular holiday items, percentages off entire websites, and a lot of free shipping," he said.
Technology has advanced the art of shopping for both ends, shortening the distance between buyers and sellers. Twitter and Facebook are more and more popular among traditional retailers as they will help to make the commercial promotion more personal and direct to the right receivers.
Toys "R" Us sent a statement about Black Friday's special deals to its fans on Facebook before the holiday. Shops like Best Buy, Gap and American Eagle distributed coupons via social networking websites. In the past, coupons were usually inserted into newspapers. More and more apparel and beauty product makers will send promotion emails to registered customers.
But for online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores, Cyber Monday and Black Friday just mark the start of a holiday shopping season. As history shows, mid to late December will see the peak of the sales volume as more slow-moving shoppers join in. But one thing for sure is that everyone will gear up for the click.
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