A Cyber Win

Cyber Monday didn’t disappoint, with sales jumping 19.4 percent over last year, according to IBM Coremetrics.

“Cyber Monday came in as the biggest shopping day of the year so far,” John Squire, chief strategy officer, at IBM Coremetrics, said in a statement. “Consumers this year appear much more willing to open their wallets and are turning to online stores for the convenience of shopping wherever and whenever they like, but also as their primary source of information about products and inventory levels.”

And while Monday sales beat those of Black Friday by a blockbuster 31 percent, big-box retailers are still pushing promotions on Tuesday, signaling that they’re still hunting for shoppers earlier in the season.

Traditionally, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been the main sales drivers, but with a two-year downturn, consumers are waiting—and extending the holiday shopping season well into December, and even into the first weeks of January.

“We’re definitely seeing people start shopping earlier to fit their spending into their budgets,” says Laura Conrad, president of Los Angeles-based online shopping and comparison site PriceGrabber. “But we’re also seeing consumers willing to wait for what they perceive as the best value, the biggest discounts, and that time is hovering around December 15.”

For those wanting to make their dollar go even further, waiting until the January clearance sales is the way to go. So far 16 percent of shoppers have indicated that they’ll be making their big buys in January. That’s partially because they’re looking to see what gift cards they receive and partially because they’re looking forward to spending their year-end bonuses without putting pressure on their budgets, Conrad says.

Spreading out purchases throughout December has also encouraged retailers to boost inventories for the first time in two years, says Conrad, who cites more credit available from manufacturers as an additional reason that stores are stocking up.

Two other data points of note are the growth of mobile shopping and luxury spending. According to IBM, 3.9 percent of consumers logged on to a retailer’s site through a mobile device. By next year, the mobile platform is expected to be a major player, perhaps on the scale of Cyber Monday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if by 2011 we’ll also be watching Mobile Monday,” says Conrad.

And how about Luxury Tuesday? Reports leading up to Thanksgiving have shown the sector coming back strong, thanks to an increased interest in electronics, gadgets, and jewelry.

On Black Friday, the iPad was the most sought-after product thanks both to its gadget appeal and timely $50 price cut. But on Cyber Monday it was jewelry that sparkled, posting a 17.6 percent sales increase over 2009. Bill Duffy, leader of FTI Consulting’s Retail Industry Practice, expects luxury to be a strong performer all season. Consumers want to know that the items they’re buying have lasting power, and luxury goods have done a good job of marketing that aspect of their products, he says.

But despite electronics and jewelry being the early holiday leaders, department stores are boosting promotional drives across the board hoping to keep customers buying. And they’re using social media through sites like Facebook and Groupon to bring traffic in through their brick-and-mortar as well as virtual doors. Tweeting out deals and making sure that sites are mobile shopping enabled are going to help keep the momentum going. “Definitely the retailers that are going to do best this season are those that can leverage their online and their offline locations,” says Conrad.

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Romy Ribitzky is an associate editor at Portfolio.com.