Cyber Monday

Shoppers jammed the Internet on the first Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday to spend a record $733 million online for gifts. This day marked the official start of the holiday season for online retailers. The online research firm, ComScore Inc. reported that this season’s Cyber Monday sales of $733 million was a 21 % gain from the same day a year ago.

The term “Cyber Monday” was coined by Shop.org in 2005 after its online retailers reported a consistent rise in traffic and sales the Monday after Black Friday (the first official shopping day of the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving).

However, Cyber Monday sales are not the highest online sales for one day. That event occurred last year on December 13 as the busiest day for e-shopping. Total sales online that day were $667 million. Cyber Monday sales ranked 12th overall for online shopping days last year.

Whatever its ranking, Cyber Monday symbolizes the growing trend of consumers using their workplace as a platform to search and purchase gifts online. A major factor in this new shopping platform is the power of business and government world to have easy access to broadband internet connections.         

More than $10.7 billion in sales for the internet retailers were reported from November 1 through November 26. This was a 17 % gain from the same time last year.

By all factors and trends, online shopping is coming on strong in America. However, in West Kentucky, online shopping is still in its infancy. The big box stores of Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, still base most of their Christmas season sales on the tried and true strategy of luring the customers into their stores with big discounts. Online sales will have a few more years before they become a real factor in West Kentucky Christmas shopping.

Yet, the likes of Kohl’s, Sears, and J.C. Penney’s are exploring and testing large scale online advertising and marketing. The race is on for who can best reach the customer’s wallet in West Kentucky.

 In the future, that path may not be solely based upon customers walking through the front door as much as clicking through online platforms from the comfort of their homes without having to drive 50 miles to fight for a parking space.