Cyber Monday Spending Shifts to Early Mornings and
Evenings as More Americans Shop from Home
--CyberMonday.com Traffic Rose 8% Overall; 19% from 5 p.m. – Midnight--

Washington, December 1, 2009—Retailers who were expecting strong Cyber Monday sales over shoppers’ lunch hour may have been disappointed when those sales were softer-than-expected, but quickly forgot about the workday crowd when early morning and evening sales beat projections. This year, many retailers saw Cyber Monday traffic and sales shift this year from mid-day hours to the early morning and evening hours as more Americans shopped for deals from home.

“With more people shopping on Cyber Monday this year and an increasing number of retailers offering promotions, this was the largest – and most important – Cyber Monday yet,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. ”Since retailers began highlighting Cyber Monday promotions five years ago, Americans’ spending patterns have changed. More families have high-speed internet access at home and don’t need to rely on their work computers to make holiday purchases, which makes the early morning and evening hours crucial for retail sales.”

A survey released on Nov. 29 by Shop.org found that 41.5 percent of those making a purchase on Cyber Monday were planning to shop early in the morning and a sizeable number of Cyber Monday shoppers planned to shop in the early evening (32.9%) or late evening (22.7%). The shift in spending coincides with a decline in people shopping from the office. According to the survey, 91.5 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers planned to shop from home on Cyber Monday while just 13.5 percent planned to shop from work.

According to a Shop.org survey conducted by BIGresearch, 96.5 million Americans planned to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from 85 million in 2008. And retailers were standing by to deliver to bargain hunters: nearly nine in ten (87.1%) retailers offered a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 83.7 percent last year and 72.2 percent in 2007, according to a Shop.org survey.

“While many online retailers are breathing a sigh of relief after a successful Cyber Monday, they will quickly shift their focus to finding ways to bring shoppers online for the rest of the holiday season,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Many websites will experience another huge surge in traffic the week of December 14, when shipping offers begin to expire, so companies are taking lessons-learned from Cyber Monday and planning to implement minor changes over the next few weeks.”

CyberMonday.com Traffic Experiences Shift to Mornings, Evenings

Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com, which features holiday promotions and special savings from more than 700 retailers, had 15.8 million visits yesterday, an increase of eight percent from Cyber Monday 2008. With many Americans waking up to shop for bargains, the largest hour for traffic was the 1.2 million hits from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. EST, according to Mall Networks, which powers the site. As another indication that people were shopping from home, site traffic from 5 p.m. EST to midnight grew by 19 percent from 2008.

All CyberMonday.com proceeds received by Shop.org benefit its Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund, which helps students pursuing careers in retail. Ray Greenly was a Vice President at Shop.org before passing away from cancer in 2005. More than $900,000 has been raised for the scholarship fund through CyberMonday.com.

Cyber Monday, a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, began after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, when shoppers flood websites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling holiday offers.

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 600 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.

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