Some 122 million Americans are expected to take to their computers, smartphones or other devices today to scoop up bargains, up by 1 million from a year ago, the National Retail Federation forecasts.
“Millions of consumers shopped over Thanksgiving weekend and reserved a portion of their budgets exclusively for Cyber Monday,” says the federation’s CEO Matthew Shay in a statement, adding that shoppers know “there will be digital deals that are too good to pass up.”
As USA Today reports, Cyber Monday—in which retailers offer promotions exclusively online—is being fed by consumers’ insatiable appetites for cool electronics and by traditional retailers intent on seeing more of their more sales coming from the Internet.
They are hoping to take back more market share from Amazon and other online sellers, the newspaper says.
For retailers, Cyber Monday represents a last-gasp chance to build on strong weekend sales.
More than 154 million consumers whipped out their wallets over Thanksgiving weekend, up from 151 million shoppers last year, finds a survey by the federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Also boding well for Cyber Monday: More Americans made purchases online than in stores.
Walmart was among the retailers benefiting from the boom in online sales via smartphones and other mobile devices, USA Today reports. For its Black Friday event, 70% of the retailer’s online traffic was through mobile, and 60% of orders on Walmart.com were made with mobile devices.
