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Dec 1, 2008 6:48 pm US/Central
Cyber Monday Shopping Off, Ready For 'Stare Down'
(WCCO)
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In the four years since it was first named, Cyber Monday has come to represent the beginning of the holiday online shopping season.
CBS
From the crowded malls of Black Friday to the stealth-like shopping that's going on in office cubicles, today's Cyber Monday shoppers were out looking for more deals.
In the four years since it was first named, Cyber Monday has come to represent the beginning of the holiday online shopping season.
Professor George John chairs the marketing department at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Marketing. He said besides the sales that the day generates, online retailers are after your data. They use the sales consumers generate to gather valuable information on shopping trends, habits and desires.
"It's hugely important because of the data mining aspects and because it's a canary in the coal mine, you see what's gonna happen based on that," John said.
That information then allows retailers to adjust inventories and devise last minute sales strategies.
According to the research site, Com Score, the post-Thanksgiving online shopping business brought in an estimated $534 million. Despite predictions that business would be off this season that number represents a 1 percent increase over 2007.
On the flip side, Web traffic was actually off Monday morning in the opening hours of Cyber Monday shopping. According to Com Score, shoppers were registering about 10 percent fewer orders than the same period of 2007.
Contrary to what many believe is a gold mine of deals online, Cyber Monday prices vary greatly when comparing the same product.
"If you're the lazy online shopper, you want Amazon's one click, you'll pay a premium for that. If you're willing to dig down in the weeds and find the lowest price," John said.
Finally, retailers are offering more free shipping deals this season as well as steep discounts. That's because they don't want to get stuck with unsold inventory after the holiday shopping season is over.
The problem is the strategy has now conditioned shoppers to expect even more freebies and deeper discounts as the countdown to the holidays goes on.
It's a marketing strategy that John calls the "stare down."
"You're going to find a lot of sales and given the particular uncertainty this year, you're gonna find tons of sales, I'm convinced, getting deeper as Christmas comes closer. So you're gonna see a huge flurry on the back end of this Christmas shopping season," he said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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