Cyber Monday. What's your predictions?

Although the Cyber Monday isn’t the biggest online shopping day comparing to the mid-December when shoppers start to look for the gifts that will arrive before Christmas with regular shipping still it is considered the ceremonial first shopping day of the holiday season. So the period starts when retailers’ bank on to figure out what otherwise could be a dismal shopping season.

So the National Retail Federation took initiative. Its digital retail division – Shop.org held a special eHoliday Survey in order to predict the incoming online shopping situation. More than half of the Survey participating workers -55.8 percent- confirmed that they would surf for the best deals during their lunch breaks today. It’s about 11 percent more comparing with last year. According to Shop.org nearly 84 percent of online retailers are going to have specials opportunities on promotion today. Deals on specific items, e-mail campaigns and one-day sales are expected to be the most popular promotions.

Even though financial downtown affected the online shopping department, Cyber Monday is predicted to be a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy holiday season. It is noted that according to the National Retail Federation it is going to be the lowest sales increase this year since 2002 – about 2.2 percent. But Forrest Research experts consider that online retail sales this season will increase 12 percent.

As John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a Chicago firm mentioned the Cyber Monday will be amplified because of the economy downturn. It is also very tough time for the employers who face the decision how to address employees who use their work computers to shop online. They should make sure employees know about policies involving personal use of computers and the Internet.