Sixty percent of employers may have taken steps to actively prevent workers from placing orders on websites yesterday, but that did little to prevent a record-setting Cyber Monday for online sales.
Cyber Monday sales were up 15 to 18 percent over last year, depending on the source. Not bad for an event that was only recently created by the retail industry.
Also not bad is the level at which consumers have been spending online to kick off the holiday season. Dollar sales for Thanksgiving showed an increase of 18 percent over last year and Black Friday was up 26 percent, according to comScore.
"Retailers are doing a good job of creating more excitement online in ways they can't do in store," Sherif Mityas, a partner in the retail practice of A.T. Kearney, told The Associated Press. "They're creating that excitement of, 'I've got to get that special deal,' that is really spurring traffic."
Matt Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, told USA Today that Cyber Monday's numbers combined with those already produced since Thanksgiving were "providing a needed shot in the arm to our nascent recovery."
- Cyber Monday online retail sales up 15% from 2010 - The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle
- Buyers click away as Cyber Monday sales jump 18% - USA Today
- Thanksgiving Sales Set Record as Shoppers With Jobs Chase Bargains: Retail - Bloomberg News
- Black Friday Boasts $816 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 26 Percent vs. Year Ago - comScore
- Ho! Ho! Ho! Watch the online shopping while at work - South Florida Sun-Sentinel