Cyber Monday Expected To Have Big Sales

There will be more Internet retailers offering special promotions on Cyber Monday, the day after the Thanksgiving weekend, for online holiday shopping.

According to a survey by online shopping site Shopzilla, nearly 84 percent of online retailers plan to have a Cyber Monday promotion. 

About 25 percent of the surveyed plan to offer free shipping to help entice sales.

The reason the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend has been dubbed Cyber Monday is because many consumers return to work and use their high-speed Internet connections to search out deals not found at non-Internet retailers.

The U.S. buyers spent $733 million on Cyber Monday, up 21 percent from the prior year, according to Internet research firm comScore Inc.

The predictions for sales this year are for them to be weak, due to the failing U.S. economy, regardless of online or in store.

Companies like Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. have forecasted weaker sales this holiday season, and Forrester Research said this autumn that U.S. online sales are projected to grow a mere 12 percent, their lowest jump since online sales have been tracked.

Online holiday sales in the U.S. were about $39 billion in 2007, an 18 percent jump over 2006.

Some 25 percent of online retailers planned a one-day-only sale, while 33 percent cited a special email campaign, the survey said.  Another 16 percent were offering no special deals.

Some 29 percent of online stores said they would increase e-marketing on promotions for Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving.