High Hopes for Cyber Monday

After packing area shops and malls over the weekend, shoppers are expected to take their quest for tracking down the perfect holiday gifts to the Internet on Monday.

Indeed, to celebrate Cyber Monday—a phrase coined in 2005 to illustrate the trend of people shopping online the Monday after Thanksgiving—inboxes already are filling up with offers. Macy's says it will give free shipping on online sales of $75 and up. Target beats that by saying it will give free shipping on online sales of $50 and up. And, turning to travel, Orbitz says it will knock 10 percent off already reduced rates at thousands of hotels. 

In total, nearly nine in 10 retailers are expected to roll out a special promotion in honor of Cyber Monday, up from just 72 percent of retailers in 2007, according to Shop.org.

For a good look at savings across the board that can be had on Monday, go to Savings.com.

Despite the troubled economy, ComScore Inc. predicts that online retail spending for the November to December period will hit $32.4 billion this year, representing an 11 percent gain versus a year ago. On Cyber Monday alone last year, online shoppers shelled out $887 million.

"The beginning of the online holiday shopping season has gotten off to an extremely positive start, outperforming our earlier expectations," said ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. 

To take full advantage, savvy shoppers should go here for some helpful tips on making the most of the Web frenzy. 

But not all local retailers are thrilled with the notion of ordering one's gifts on the Internet, preferring that consumers pay their visits, in person, to area stores.

"We really believe that there is and always will be a customer that loves to shop in a shop," said David Salvatore, co-owner of EDGE Mid-Century Designs. "There is something magical about finding the perfect gift for someone you care for and taking it home with you after experiencing fabulous customer service from a courteous and knowledgeable selling professional.

"It's part of what makes a town a community," he said. "Obviously, I find Internet shopping extremely impersonal."

Meanwhile, many of the retailing giants couldn't even wait until Monday to start offering their retailing sales. Best Buy, for example, started rolling out Cyber Monday deals on Sunday, with the giant advertising discounts on a whole host of items including LG Rumor Touch for $69.99 and Samsung Fascinate for $99.

When it comes to online shopping, gift cards, in particular, have become increasingly popular, thanks in large part to their convenience factor.

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend an average of $145.61 on gift cards, up from $139.91 last year. Total gift card spending is expected to reach $24.78 billion. And there's a good reason for that. An NRF holiday survey, released last month, found that gift cards remain the most requested holiday gift, marking the fourth year in a row gift cards have topped consumers' wish lists.

"This holiday season we expect Americans to gravitate toward both sale and non-sale items, including gift cards, which in recent years have been passed up for heavily discounted merchandise," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "With people focusing less on price and more on value this holiday season, Americans may choose to buy gift cards due to their convenience and popularity among gift recipients."  

Not only will more people purchase gift cards this holiday season, but the average amount spent on each card will increase as well ($41.48 vs. $39.80 last year). According to the survey, 77.3 percent of shoppers will buy at least one gift card. 

Making gift cards even more appealing is the new CARD Act that says gift cards sold after Aug. 22, 2010 can't expire in less than five years. The law also prohibits issuers from charging a fee to replace a lost or stolen card.

So good luck! For an overall glance at the deals you should expect to find Monday, go here. Happy shopping!