What’s even better (or way better, in my humble opinion), than Black Friday shopping? It’s Cyber Monday. Created in 2005 by the National Retail Federation, Cyber Monday is the first workday after Thanksgiving. Two years ago they started CyberMonday.com to promote specials and spur online shopping.
Of course, like any other shopping expedition, there are always things you can do to maximize your shopping experience on Cyber Monday.
Shop in the off-peak hours
It may help to do online shopping in the “off-peak hours” of weekends, early morning, mid-afternoon and late in the evening. While the Internet is “open” 24/7, Web sites can face the same crush of customers at the same times of day that brick-and-mortar stores do, he said.
The National Retail Federation says 55.8 percent of those with Internet access at work will be holiday shopping from their desks, likely during their lunch hours. I can verify that most people access this site during work hours, as traffic drops dramatically on the weekends.
Last year, the Yahoo shopping site suffered the embarrassment of having their site go down and suffer loss of huge profits due to server overloads. Yahoo, as you can imagine, has made several public statements that they have upgraded their server capacity for the upcoming shopping season.
Watch Out for ID Theft
Online retailers aren’t the only ones gearing up for Cyber Monday. ID thieves are sure to be plotting to make a killing with so many people going online to shop. Last year, we did a blog post “Tips to Avoid ID Theft on Cyber Monday“. I don’t want to scare you, though. Despite the real possible of ID Theft in the online world, you are far more likely to get credit card information stolen in brick and mortar stores than the internet.
Comparison Shop
Many online stores offer free shipping on their products which can save you $35 dollars on items like flat screen TVs. This can make or break the fact that something is a “deal”.
Make sure the “retail” price isn’t overinflated enough to erase the “savings” on the final price. This “mark up and discount” is standard practice at mall jewelry stores; the online world is just as guilty. If they jack the retail price up 25% and then tell you the sales price is discounted 25% – the net result is no savings at all. It’s just a few mouse clicks more to do your homework to get a feel for what the real price is.
Want to hear the real scam?
Cyber Monday isn’t the busiest online shopping day of the season. “It really ranks about fourth or fifth,” said Kurt Peters, editor-in-chief of Internet Retailer, a trade publication. “Usually Dec. 12 to 15 are the heaviest days,” and this year, Dec. 15 may be the peak day.
Feel like sharing your own Cyber Monday experiences? Tell us about it by leaving a comment!
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