Tips for Online Shopping This Cyber Monday

Nov. 28, 2005 — -- After the wild rush to the malls over the weekend, everyone's back at work. For many, the shopping continues on high-speed Internet office computers. This online shopping frenzy is being called Cyber Monday.

Financial contributor Mellody Hobson joined "GMA" on Cyber Monday to explain how to get the best online deals.

Tips for Cyber Shopping

Use a shopping search engine that pulls data from a wide variety of stores and vendors. Search engines like froogle.com and shopzilla.com give you results from tens of thousands of online stores and let you find the lowest price. If your search engine keeps coming back with the same seven or eight results, you know it's only listing stores and companies who pay to be listed.

Buy electronics now. Wait to buy clothing. The hottest electronic items sell out and manufacturers just can't make enough to get back on the shelves before the holidays. But if you're looking to buy clothing, wait. It will continue to be marked down the closer we get to the holidays, and you don't have to worry about it selling out. In general, industry experts say retailers are going to make markdowns earlier than last season because they hope to get shoppers buying before they get hit with their first big winter heating bill.

About Cyber Monday

More than one in three people say they'll be using their fast-access work computers this year for holiday shopping. That's more than 51 million people logging on at work.

Nearly 80 percent of online retailers say their sales went way up last year on Cyber Monday.

A recent survey shows that 43 percent of online retailers plan to offer special promotions and discounts on Cyber Monday. Deals range from slashed prices to free shipping.