"Cyber Monday" Expected To Draw Virtual Crowds

Anti-Globalism writes with this excerpt from PCWorld: "Last year, consumers spent $733 million on Cyber Monday, and it's expected to be even bigger this year. According to a survey by online shopping site Shopzilla for the National Retail Federation's Shop.org, nearly 84 percent of online retailers plan to have a Cyber Monday promotion on December 1. That's up from just 72 percent last year and zero percent in 2005, says Shop.org executive director Scott Silverman."

Who can afford it?

[elrous0]

I just got a pay cut at work, I may even lose my job if things don't turn around, and my mortgage is now worth more than my house. Not really in a spending mood right now.

Re:Who can afford it?

[p3n1x420]

come on now, stimulate the economy, spent big, spend with plastic! its not like everybody can afford all this junk as it is. some yes, but the majority im willing to bet are digging their holes deeper and deeper.

Just Hype

[victim]

Cyber Monday is just marketing hype. The peak shopping days come later. The goal is to have a recognizable name that people will google up and read their customers' ads. I suppose they owe a big thank you to Soulskill for getting their message out.

Maybe we can have a slashdot article for Sears' next "White Sale".

Seriously, who makes up this crap?

[movercast]

Cyber Monday? Is there any proof that people spend more money on this day then any other? Show me the correlation coefficients of money spent online vs day of the year and then we'll talk.

Re:Just Hype

[Troy]

It's a great example of belief creating reality, however. If people believe that the Monday after Thanksgiving is the biggest online shopping day of the year, then retailers are going to start offering "Cyber Monday Specials." This, in turn, will drive more people to shop that day. Rinse and repeat.

From a marketing point of view, it is actually quite clever.

Re:We are different

[drspliff]

Uh.... nice rant.

However, what has it got to do with more people shopping online on Monday?

Re:Just Hype

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I was partly incorrect. I was wrong about Thursday. But if you look at the wiki link you provided, FDR did move up Thanksgiving one week to give retailers a longer shopping season:

With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought an earlier Thanksgiving would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas.

Re:Who can afford it?

[elrous0]

Ha, I *wish* I was joking. Sadly, no.

Re:Who can afford it?

[Sporkinum]

I was a dumbshit and made double payments on my house and paid it off this year in 11 years total. I should have let my rich uncle "Sam" pay it off for me. I also paid off my credit cards too. All a few months before the economy tanked. BTW.. its called living within your means.

Re:Who can afford it?

[blackmonday]

my mortgage is now worth more than my house

I don't understand the exact problem with this. Most people go out and buy cars with a 10 or 20 percent down, and they're "underwater" as soon as they drive off the lot. As you make your regular payments, the amount you're underwater gets overcome, over time. It may d=sound hard to believe, but everything will eventually recover a few years down the road. I'm an optimist, mostly because I've been living within my means and renting for the last 10 years.