Nebraska retailers aren't buying into the belief that this year's "Cyber Monday" will be one of the weakest in memory.
MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:00 pm
Nebraska retailers aren’t buying into the belief that this year’s “Cyber Monday” will be one of the weakest in memory.
“The day is young and we’re already at last year’s (numbers),” Bob Batt, vice president of Nebraska Furniture Mart, said as of 1:30 Monday afternoon.
The company was running an Internet-only two-day sale that included half-price furniture items and free shipping on purchases over $299.
Outdoor outfitter Cabela’s was also running a free-shipping offer for purchases over $99, part of a five-day sale online and in-store running from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
Joe Arterburn, a spokesman for the Sidney-based company, said it was anticipating a strong showing Monday.
“Basically, I can tell you our expectations are very high coming off a good Black Friday, and traditionally Cyber Monday has been very successful for us,” Arterburn said.
The term “Cyber Monday,” coined by the trade group the National Retail Federation in 2005 to describe the Monday after Thanksgiving, has in the past been the unofficial kickoff for the online shopping season.
Since its inception, the amount spent online during the holiday shopping season has increased tremendously every year, including 19 percent in 2007.
But forecasts from trade and research groups have predicted anywhere from flat spending to a 12 percent increase this year, which would be the smallest growth in its short history, as consumers grapple with a recession that The National Bureau of Economic Research now says started a year ago.
“People are expecting that deals will only get better as we approach the Christmas time frame,” said Youssef H. Squali, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. “So while Cyber Monday is significant I wouldn't say today is the only day to track. People may opt to wait a little more.”
People didn’t seem to be waiting for better deals at Omaha Steaks.
Beth Weiss, director of corporate communications, said online sales were strong Monday.
“I can tell you it’s a very good day,” Weiss said. “We’re ahead of our projections, and that’s a great place to be.”
Omaha Steaks was offering various Cyber Monday deals that included free shipping and free steaks.
Even small retailers were reporting successful Internet sales.
Connie Mahaney, owner of From Nebraska Gift Shop in Lincoln’s Haymarket district, said she had “quite a few” online orders Monday morning.
“We might be up just a little bit from what it was a year ago or so,” Mahaney said.
She called Cyber Monday the “serious start” of the online holiday shopping season.
“After that it gets pretty heavy.”
This year, though, the online shopping may have started a little earlier.
Nielsen Online reported that online traffic grew 10 percent year-over-year on Black Friday to 31.7 million unique visitors across 120 online retailers. And online billing site PayPal said transactions increased 34 percent and online payment volume rose 26 percent on Black Friday.
Internet research company comScore said Sunday that online spending on Thanksgiving Day and Friday was up 2 percent compared with a year ago. While slightly better than the flat growth comScore has predicted for the holidays, the increase is still drastically lower than the 19 percent growth last year. For the holiday season to date, online sales are down about 4 percent to $10.41 billion, according to comScore.
Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.