RECORD CYBER MONDAY SALES
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Online sales as of midday Eastern time in the US today were up 20% compared the same period last year.
THOUGHT: Online sales are expected to exceed $1 billion mark that set the heaviest day of online shopping ever last year.
I expect we’ll continue to set sales records for a few years as merchants continue to promote the idea of Cyber Monday and as people continue to gravitate to online shopping for the holidays.
I’ve detailed trends pushing this move online before:
- Consumer demand for deals
- Ubiquitous free shipping
- Consumers looking to save time and gas money
- Avoidance of the crowds of Black Friday
- The rise of tablet commerce
Additionally, I believe the Kindle Fire will take off as a low-cost alternative to the iPad. The Kindle Fire is tablet with the Amazon.com store built into it.
The adoption of the Kindle Fire will further shape the behavior of consumers to do more and more of their shopping from their sofa. I believe the habit of shopping at their leisure will shape their holiday shopping behavior as well, making them more apt to do their holiday shopping earlier and earlier so that they can spend the actual holidays enjoying the time with friends and family.
Those forces will eventually make the very idea of Cyber Monday irrelevant. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon, and for the rest of your life.
I discussed this very topic last night with Reg Chapman on WCCO TV News:
MINNESOTA MONDAY: Twin Cities Public Television is asking Minnesotans to submit their best photos of our state to their Capture Minnesota project website, that will result in a hard-bound, fine art book of Minnesota photography.
Thank you for digital photography.
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