Surfin' The Net On Cyber Monday

Nov. 24 - KGO (KGO) -- The Internet is where some shoppers turn to avoid crowded stores and malls. But visitors to Walmart.com discovered the site was down for part of the day. The company blamed a higher than expected traffic volume.

Yet the biggest online shopping day is still ahead on Monday. Cyber Monday, they call it, is expected to see $600 million dollars in sales, a healthy increase from the year before.

The Internet is also helping consumers find the best prices. Debbie Anzilotti is planning to buy a big screen TV.

Debbie Anzilotti, Danville resident: "We'll go to all the stores and look at the different displays and then we'll make our decision and we'll get it cheaper online."

Retailers actively court online shoppers because they're serious buyers. Their shopping triples during the holidays. And they spend up to 60 percent more than store-only shoppers.

Renn Ortenburger, Dealio Marketing Manager: "I think you're going to find a lot of people getting iPods for Christmas, and video game systems, and digital cameras."

Renn Ortenburger should know. He's with Dealio, an online price comparison service based in San Mateo.

The most searched product this week is the iPod Nano, followed by the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS game systems. Digital cameras rank fourth. The new Nintendo Wii is fifth, followed by GPS navigation systems, cell phones, the Sandisk Sansa and the Microsoft Zune music players.

Kit Yarrow, Ph.D., consumer psychologist: "People really have a lot of stuff right now, and so for the holidays, the bar is higher. People need to step up, they feel like they need to step up and spend more money to impress their loved ones."

The heaviest shopping day online may not come on Monday. Instead, it may come sometime closer to December 25th. That's because people will be hard-pressed by that time to find that perfect gift.

Along with online shopping, gift cards are expected to be a popular choice this holiday season. The National Retail Federation says gift card sales will grow six times faster than total holiday sales this year. That would put gift cards at a record $24.8 billion dollars.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•