Cyber Monday now real shopping phenomenon

Cyber Monday might have started as a made-up holiday to give underdog e-commerce sites jealous of Black Friday a day of their own, but it has become an undeniably real thing—surprising even the people who invented it. Last year, for the first time, the Monday after Thanksgiving was the biggest online shopping day of the year by sales, and the first day ever that online spending passed $1 billion, according to comScore, a research company that measures Web use. This year, with a record-breaking Black Friday—shoppers spent $816 million online, 26% more than last year, in addition to spending more offline—online retailers are gearing up to make sales today the strongest of the season, as the Monday after Thanksgiving was last year. Seventy-eight percent are offering promotions, according to Shop.org, an industry group. Almost half will offer discounts, while 38% will run limited-time flash sales, and a third will have free shipping. “It’s going to be up there again, no doubt,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore and an e-commerce expert. “We were all surprised last year when we saw it turned out to be the biggest day of the season,” he said. “But more and more retailers have become a part of the Cyber Monday kickoff, more and more consumers are aware of it and know there are special deals coming—and you put that together and you’ve got an important day.” Read the full story here.