Retailers Offer Deals, Discounts on 'Cyber Monday'

While "Cyber Monday" is not the busiest online shopping day of the year — that day usually occurs later in December as shipping deadlines approach — retailers who have seen consumers pull back amid the recession stepped up their online deals — offering discounts on clothes and gadgets, set amounts off purchases, free shipping and more.

Shoppers are reflected as they enter the Nike Store on Chicago's Magnificent Mile Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

(AP)

Traffic at online retailer eBags.com was up 12 percent compared with the Monday after Thanksgiving last year and sales were up 10 percent as of 1 p.m., said co-founder Peter Cobb — about what he expected. The site is offering a 20 percent off deal for Cyber Monday.

"Retailers are much more aggressive this year, as we are," Cobb said. "We expect to see a big push in the next two weeks."

Amazon.com, which began running holiday promotions a week ago, said it is focusing less on Cyber Monday than the holidays as a whole.

"A lot of customers got shopping done through 'Black Friday' and through the weekend," said spokesman Craig Berman. "We really look at holiday shopping as a season, not as a couple of really busy days."

Target.com said its best sellers were toys and electronics and said as of midday Monday, traffic was trending up slightly compared to last year's "Cyber Monday."

Overall, there were few technical problems reported, but J. Crew, Victoria's Secret, Gap and Old Navy sites were down for short periods.

Merchants want consumers to keep shopping after seeing modest sales gains over the Thanksgiving weekend.

John Morris, an analysts at Wachovia Capital Markets, wrote in a note published Monday that traffic and business were strong on Black Friday but that the "strength did not carry through the remainder of the weekend as business fell off sharply on Saturday."

Karen MacDonald, a spokeswoman at mall operator Taubman Centers Inc., similarly said that based on a sampling of malls, business for the three-day weekend was flat from a year ago, with a sales spike on Friday that quickly fizzled.