Posted on 11/30/2008 5:52:45 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Black Friday has come and gone but the virtual version of Black Friday - known as Cyber Monday - is tomorrow, December 1st, 2008. Cyber Monday is when online retailers offer coupons, discounts and free shipping offers. It's a good day for consumers who can get some holiday shopping done and save some money at the same time. There will continue to be deals throughout December but they generally aren't quite as good as the offers you can find on Cyber Monday. Here are some Cyber Monday highlights.
* The National Retail Federation says nearly 84% of all online retailers will have some kind of Cyber Monday offer. That means you should be able to simply check your favorite retailer's website on Monday and see what they have. You could also subscribe to the retailer's newsletter or follow them on Twitter to make sure you catch any coupons and deals.
* Black Friday traffic was up 10% over last year according to Nielsen Online but Black Friday online sales were up just 1% from the year before. Still the traffic increase could be a positive sign that people are ready to shop online tomorrow.
* Circuit City and Best Buy have already kicked off their Cyber Monday sales. They aren't alone as some retailers have been running deals from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Other retailers will have special offerings for Cyber Monday only that will be announced tomorrow.
* Regina Lewis, AOL's Consumer Advisor, talked about some of the deals available tomorrow on the Today Show. Regina says Best Buy will be offering iPods and that Amazon will have a one-day watch sale. Regina Lewis also talked to Fox News in this video. She also talks about dynamic pricing.
* CNN has a video report that says 73 million workers will be shopping for online deals from work this year. Most workers search for deals during the lunch hour - at least that's when they say they do the shopping.
* The New York Daily News published a feature listing 100 budget-friendly Cyber Monday sites.
* Mashable has posted a list of 11 resources that help you find Cyber Monday deals.
* PC World has a Cyber Monday shopping primer.
* The Huffington Post blogs the emergence of a Green Tuesday trend. The idea - said to be spearheaded by Ideal Bite - involves offering discounted green products to shoppers on on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
* The L.A. Times reports that Cyber Monday makes up about 7% of total retail sales in a video report.
* Kmart and Sears have sent out press releases - see here and here -- announcing special Cyber Monday coupons offering $5 off $25. The coupons are "ILOVESEARS" and "ILOVEKMART" - it should be obvious which coupon is for which store.
* There are a few other news stories about Cyber Monday 2008 on CNN, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, NPR and Digital Trends.
* There are some great sites that help organize the Cyber Monday deals and list the coupons and deals being offered. Some other sites that will help you find Cyber Monday deals include: CyberMonday.com, ShoppersShop.com Deals, JumponDeals.com, Bradsdeals.com, Coupon Mountain, Dealnews.com, DealTime, FatWallet.com, CouponChief.com, CyberMonday.fm, Dealio, DealTaker.com, GottaDeal.com, RetailMeNot.com, RedFlagDeals.com, Current Codes, Slick Deals and TechBargains. You can also find some deals on this handy Cyber Monday Ads Chart.
* Price comparison tools are also popular this time of year as consumers search for the best possible price. Some price comparison resources include Price Spider, PriceProtectr, PriceGrabber.com, BizRate, NexTag, MySimon, PriceScan.com and Google Product Search.
* Be sure you are shopping safely - see resources here, here and here. A couple years ago Jon Stewart joked on the Daily Show that Cyber Monday is followed by Identity Theft Tuesday.
>>The Huffington Post blogs the emergence of a Green Tuesday trend. The idea - said to be spearheaded by Ideal Bite - involves offering discounted green products to shoppers on on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. <<
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