Marketing and all things related

While brick-and-mortar retailers rely on Black Friday to usher in the holiday shopping season, online retailers have come to depend on Cyber Monday.  The Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States was dubbed Cyber Monday in 2005, and this year one-third of online retailers plan to conduct special email campaigns on that day with 30% planning one-day sales.

During 2005, not many online retailers focused on Cyber Monday, but last year, websites like Gifts.com saw traffic triple on Cyber Monday over traffic in the prior year.  Online retailers are recognizing the potential Cyber Monday holds and more will participate this year than ever.  That's why 72% of the online retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation stated they would offer some kind of special offer on Cyber Monday, which is up from 43% in 2006.  Cyber Monday also marks the day when many online retailers will start offering free shipping for the holiday season.

Interestingly, Cyber Monday is not the biggest online shopping day of the year, but could it take over the top spot with more online retailers trying to cash in on the event with special sales and offers to consumers?  With economic downturn making people think twice about how much they spend this holiday season, Cyber Monday has a good chance of growing significantly this year.  It would make sense for online retailers (and brick-and-mortar retailers for that matter) to try to capture a portion of consumers' holiday wallets early.

Surprisingly, the web is not overloaded with advertisements for Cyber Monday.  One would think online retailers would do more to capitalize on the day by trying to increase awareness of it early.  Perhaps if sales on Cyber Monday grow exponentially in 2007, we'll see a lot more advertising and marketing focus on it in 2008.

What do you think?  Have you seen any Cyber Monday advertising?  Will you be shopping online that day?