With the increasing appeal of online shopping, retailers are expected to offer special deals on their websites on Cyber Monday, one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. However, slightly fewer merchants will offer Cyber Monday promotions this year, according to a recent survey.
Shop.org reports that this year, 78.4 percent of retailers say they will offer special promotions on Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Last year, 88.2 percent offered Cyber Monday promotions. In 2007, 72.2 percent offered promotions the Monday after Thanksgiving, 83.7 percent did so in 2008 and 87.1 percent in 2009.
The drop may be related to the increase in retailers that will open their doors as early as midnight on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This trend looks like it will sway online retailers to offer more promotions during the Thanksgiving weekend, or earlier.
Shop.org reports that 92.2 percent of online sellers will offer promotions during the weekend. More than half of respondents surveyed say they will also offer incentives on Thanksgiving Day.
"As a direct result of increased demand, online retailers will offer hard-to-pass-up deals to shoppers all season long before, on and after Cyber Monday," says Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell.
Most of this year's promotions will be in the form of coupons and free shipping offers, Shop.org reports.
The accessibility of smartphones and tablets has eBay and PayPal predicting a "heavy wave" of "couch commerce," or people shopping right from their couches, right after Thanksgiving dinner. This gives online retailers an edge on the competition.
Laura Chambers, PayPal's senior director of PayPal Mobile, predicts that couch commerce "will be the first mobile spike" during the holiday season.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
Other Entries by this Author