News

Retailers planning extended Cyber Monday, holiday promotions

November 20, 2011

As online shopping continues to reach unprecedented levels, retailers plan to emphasize value and savings to their shoppers all holiday season long. According to Shop.org's eHoliday Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, half (51.0 percent) of online retailers surveyed will offer promotions specifically on Thanksgiving Day and eight in 10 (78.4 percent) will have special promotions on Cyber Monday.

Additionally, 92.2 percent of online merchants will offer special promotions at some point during the Thanksgiving weekend.

"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," said Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell. "In addition to many free shipping promotions, there will be plenty of extra ways to save on Cyber Monday, including percentages off entire sites and online-only sales."

As one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, retailers' promotions on Cyber Monday will run the gamut. Most are planning to offer coupons/percent off deals (45.0 percent) and more than one-third (37.5 percent) will have limited-time promotions. Additionally, three in 10 (30.0 percent) will offer free standard shipping with conditions and 15.0 percent will feature a free gift with their purchase.

"Consumers have come to expect the absolute best online holiday deals on Cyber Monday," said BIGresearch Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow. "Holiday shoppers love the idea of preparing for special online sales events as many begin scanning catalogs and retailers' websites days in advance, marking gift items for their family, friends, and even themselves."

Cyber Monday, a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, began after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the online equivalent to Black Friday: the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season when shoppers flood websites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling online holiday offers.

Holiday shoppers who find time is not on their side often shop online over their lunch hours at work or at the end of the business day. According to the survey, 58.4 percent of workers with Internet access, or 75.9 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from the office this year.

The NRF 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 8,502 consumers and was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from Nov. 1-8, 2011. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.

The eHoliday Study, now in its tenth year, provides an authoritative snapshot of the holiday activities of both large and small online retailers, many of which have been in business for at least ten years, and also includes the sentiments of online holiday shoppers. The Study, conducted by BIGresearch for Shop.org, surveyed 1,685 online holiday shoppers from Sept. 19 – Oct. 7, 2011 and 51 online retailers from Sept. 22 – Oct. 14, 2011.