Entry  #  2  –  Business  Article    

Cyber Monday sales jump; department stores shine

Cyber Monday online sales jumped to a record, led by department stores and home goods retailers, according to U.S. data released on Tuesday. Online sales climbed 33 percent versus Cyber Monday in 2010, said IBM Benchmark, a unit of International Business Machines. Department stores saw online sales surge 60 percent this Cyber Monday, compared to last year, while sales of home goods climbed 68 percent, IBM Benchmark added. Cyber Monday is traditionally the first Monday after Thanksgiving when employees return to offices and purchase items with their work computers. In 2010, Cyber Monday sales topped $1 billion, making it the heaviest day of online spending ever, according to comScore. This year, the firm expects Cyber Monday sales to exceed last year's tally. It releases data on Wednesday. "Cyber Monday was the biggest day of the year and the biggest day ever for online retailing in the U.S.," said John Squire of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative. Department store operators including Nordstrom Inc, Macy's Inc and J.C. Penney Inc, have spent a lot personalizing their websites, online advertising and e-mails to customers, which paid off this year, Squire said. Department stores have collected more data on which brands and products shoppers browse online. Combined with geographic information, the effort has helped companies recommend more relevant products, he added. J.C. Penney and Macy's saw the biggest increases in web traffic among retailers in the past month, according to FreePriceAlerts, which tracks consumer goods prices online. A major source of online traffic to J.C. Penney this Cyber Monday came from the company's mobile website. Consumers could buy on the mobile site this year, while they could not last year, according to a spokeswoman. J.C. Penney and other department stores including Kohl's and Macy's, used Facebook a lot more this year to attract online shoppers. J.C. Penney released its Black Friday deals on Facebook, allowing customers to browse the promotions, create shareable wish lists and send tips to friends.

Summary:    “Cyber  Monday”  is  the  first  Monday  following  Thanksgiving  where  retailers  

provide  sales  on  their  online  stores,  and  consumers  can  shop  the  sale  from  the  convenience  of  their  computer,  specifically,  at  work.  Companies  use  their  social  networking  sites  such  as  Facebook  to  promote  their  online  sales.  This  year,  cyber  Monday  resulted  in  a  33%  sales  climb  compared  to  last  years  sales,  that  exceeded    $1  billion.  Official  revenue  data  will  be  posted  Wednesday.       With  today’s  economy,  I  think  sales  play  a  huge  role  in  consumption,  and  we,  as  consumers  try  to  take  as  much  advantage  of  that  is  possible.  With  the  holidays  coming  up,  there  are  a  lot  of  gifts  to  be  bought,  so  why  not  shop  for  those  gifts  from  the  convenience  of  your  computer  at  a  discounted  rate?  Although  I  personally  did  not  take  part  in  any  Cyber  Monday  shopping,  it  is  definitely  something  I  can  see  myself  doing  in  the  future.