Black Friday, Cyber Monday Bring Brisk Business For RetailersBlack Friday, Cyber Monday Bring Brisk Business For Retailers

About 85 million Americans are expected to shop online today as they seek savings through Cyber Monday sales.

Shop.org, the electronic division of the National Retail Federation, commissioned a survey that showed 84.6 million U.S. consumers planned to shop via their home or workplace Internet connections Monday. That's up 18% from 72 million in 2007. The group estimated that 60.7 million Americans shopped online in 2006. The percentage of American adults shopping online is expected to reach 37.2% up from last year's 31.9%.

"Online retailers have been planning their Cyber Monday promotions for months and are eagerly waiting to debut these deals to shoppers," Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, said in a statement. "Many people who didn't want to fight the crowds or get up early to stand in line over the weekend have been waiting until Cyber Monday to start their holiday shopping."

A Shop.org survey conducted by BIGresearch found that 55.8% of workers with Internet access, or 72.8 million people, would buy holiday gifts from work. That's up from 44.7% of workers who said they shopped from their office computers in 2005. A Shopzilla survey conducted for Shop.org showed that 83.7% of retailers planned Cyber Monday promotions. Almost one-fourth of retailers planned to offer free shipping on all purchases, according to Shop.org.

Cyber Monday came on the heels of a promising showing on Black Friday. The NRF reported that more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and retail Web sites over the weekend. That's up from 147 million last year.

Despite economic struggles and fears, shoppers spent more than last year, according to the NRF. Average spending rose more than 7% to $372.57 from last year's average of $347.55.

The NRF estimates that total spending reached $41 billion over the weekend. "Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season's hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend," NRF president and CEO Tracy Mullin said in a statement. "Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again." Friday marked the busiest day, with 73.6 million people visiting stores and Web sites for sales, and nearly one-fourth showed up at stores by 5 a.m., according to the NRF. More than half of Black Friday shoppers arrived at stores by 9 a.m.

Nearly 57 million people shopped on Saturday and about 26 million people shopped on Sunday. The number of people who shopped on Thanksgiving Day rose to 16.2 million, up 48% from last year's 10.9 million Thanksgiving shoppers.

The NRF predicted that shopping would slow over the next several weeks because Americans completed more of their shopping over the weekend compared with previous years.

"Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious," Phil Rist, executive VP of strategic initiatives for BIGresearch, said in a statement. "Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases."

Discount stores ranked among the most popular destinations, drawing more than half of the weekend's shoppers, according to BIGresearch. Forty-three percent of weekend shoppers visited traditional department stores. That's up 11.1% from last year. About one-third of shoppers visited specialty stores. Thirty-six percent visited electronics stores and 34% shopped online.

Clothing and accessories were the most popular buys, with 50.9% of shoppers acquiring them. Nearly 40% bought books, DVDs, CDs, and video games. Nearly 36% bought consumer electronics, compared with 28.5% of shoppers who bought toys.

Although gift cards have topped recipients' wish lists, purchases dropped 10% from last year. Only 18.7% of shoppers bought a gift card over the weekend, compared with 21% last year. NRF's holiday sales prediction for the year is that shoppers will spend $470.4 billion, up 2.2% from last year.