Nov 30, 2008

Shop.org Survey Finds 85 Million Americans to Shop Cyber Monday

(Washington) —Though traffic in stores was brisk over Black Friday weekend, millions of Americans saved some of their shopping for Cyber Monday, the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season.

According to a Shop.org survey, conducted this weekend by BIGresearch, 84.6 million consumers plan to shop online from home or at work tomorrow, up from 72.0 million in 2007 and 60.7 million in 2006. The survey found that 37.2 percent of adults will shop on Cyber Monday, up 16.6 percent over last year (31.9%).

“Online retailers have been planning their Cyber Monday promotions for months and are eagerly waiting to debut these deals to shoppers,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Many people who didn’t want to fight the crowds or get up early to stand in line over the weekend have been waiting until Cyber Monday to start their holiday shopping.”

Shoppers who are looking for a bargain will be able to find thousands of deals online tomorrow. According to the Shop.org eHoliday Survey, conducted by Shopzilla, 83.7 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 72.2 percent last year. The most popular promotions are expected to be specific deals (38.8%), email campaigns (32.7%), and one-day sales (24.5%). Additionally, nearly one-fourth of retailers (22.5%) will offer free shipping on all purchases.

More than Half of Workers with Internet Access Will Shop from Office
A Shop.org survey conducted by BIGresearch found that 55.8 percent of workers with Internet access, or 72.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work. The trend of employees with internet access shopping from the office has continued to increase: in 2005, only 44.7 percent said they shopped online from work.

Media Invited to Interview Shoppers at Shop@Lunch Event on Monday
Shop.org will be marking Cyber Monday with its third annual Shop@Lunch event from 11:00-2:00 at the Hard Rock Café in Washington. More than 200 people are expected to shop online for special deals and promotions at the event, which will feature personal shoppers and gift card giveaways from retailers like Barnes & Noble, Borders, Macys.com, HSN, Sierra Trading Post, and Kohl’s. Members of the press are invited to cover the event to interview online shoppers about their spending plans and NRF spokespeople about holiday season trends. For more information, visit www.shop.org/cybermonday/shopatlunch.

About the Surveys
The survey about consumer shopping on Cyber Monday, which polled 3,370 consumers, was conducted for Shop.org by BIGresearch from November 27-29, 2008 with a margin of error of 1.7 percent. The poll on consumer shopping at work was conducted for Shop.org by BIGresearch from November 5-11, 2008. The survey, which polled 8,758 consumers, has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent. The Shop.org/Shopzilla eHoliday Study polled 60 retailers and was conducted October 1-20, 2008.

Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is the world’s leading membership community for digital retail. Founded in 1996, Shop.org’s 700 members include the 10 largest retailers in the U.S. and more than 60 percent of the Internet Retailer Top 100 E-Retailers. It’s where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and multichannel retailing. Shop.org programs and activities include benchmarking research, events and networking communities.

*Indicates a promotion exclusive to CyberMonday.com.