Shoppers Hit Stores, Web

Cyber Monday Helps Fill Christmas Wish Lists

By Christie Swanson

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 4:23 a.m.

Sarah Bentham
Shane Smith, right, purchases DVDs from employee John McEuen, left, as he Christmas shops Friday at Hastings Books, Music and Video in Springdale.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Nicole Howard had a cart full of goodies by 7 a.m. Friday. But she’s not done yet.

“I definitely plan on shopping online Monday,” Howard said. “I enjoy the online pricing.”

The Hot Springs woman is just one of many planning to take part in what is now known as Cyber Monday. Black Friday may get people out of the house the day after Thanksgiving, but Cyber Monday allows people to shop from home or work.

Black Friday has been around for decades. The day after Thanksgiving is so named because it’s when retailers usually begin making a profit for the year.

Cyber Monday was created in 2005 by Shop.org after retailers noticed a trend of online shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is viewed as the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation.

Howard said she bought a little bit of everything, from a printer to clothes, after spending about 90 minutes at the Mall Avenue Walmart in Fayetteville. She said she will be looking online mostly for electronics.

Howard said she learned about Cyber Monday this week while surfing the Internet.

Deals shouldn’t be hard to find because 87 percent of online retailers plan to offer special promotions Monday, according to a study by Shop.org. That’s a 3.4 percent jump from 2008. At www.cybermonday.com, about 700 retailers offer discounts. New this year are deals of the hour, which will be announced Sunday.

Not everyone waits until Monday.

According to comScore, based in Reston, Va., holiday season-to-date online spending hit $8.21 billion, marking a 2 percent increase over last year, for the first 22 days of the 2009 holiday season.

Online sales may be up, but the retail federation estimates holiday sales will decrease 1 percent this year to $437.6 billion.

Friends Tammy Morphis from Star City and April Stobbs from Clarksville said they’re spending their money both in stores and online.

“I shopped online last weekend so I won’t do Cyber Monday,” Morphis said.

The friends said they usually travel to Little Rock to participate in Black Friday, but decided this year to head north.

“Most of what I found online were Black Friday prices early,” Stobbs said. She also said she prefers to shop with the major retailers.

The pair left their houses at 1 a.m. Friday morning, and were leaving the Northwest Arkansas Mall at 9:30 a.m. carrying several bags from various stores. They said they weren’t done yet, and were heading out to find more deals.

They were buying mostly video games and clothes.

The National Retail Federation reported high-definition TVs, laptops, winter coats and Zhu Zhu Pets were among the most popular items Friday. A Zhu Zhu Pet hamster is a robotic toy made by Zhu Zhu Toys.

Kelly and Sharon Conner of Elkins said they already had most of their shopping done. They were loaded down with shopping bags at Kohl’s at 8:30 a.m. and said they had been hitting sales since 4 a.m.

“We found everything on our wish list. We made a list and stuck to it,” Sharon Conner said.

The Conners also said they had been shopping online for the past few months.

“We’ve been checking on things,” Kelly Conner said.

Toys and clothes are their focus this year, he said. Sharon Conner said last year they bought electronics, and many came from post-Christmas sales.

The Conners are buying for more than Christmas.

“What we’ll do is get stuff on sale and hold some of it back for other gifts like birthdays and weddings,” Sharon Conner said.

Christi Griffin of West Fork said online shopping takes some of the thrill out of Christmas shopping.

Standing in line at Big Lots at 5:45 a.m., she said she enjoys Black Friday.

“If you shop online, you don’t get the whole experience of getting up and shopping at 5 a.m.”

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