By Karen Axelton
It’s Cyber Monday. Is your business offering special deals? If so, you’re not alone. A survey conducted by BIG Research for Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, showed that nine out of 10 retailers plan to offer special promotions today—an increase from 72 percent in 2007.
Cyber Monday started out because consumers who didn’t have high-speed Internet access at home were waiting for the Monday after Black Friday to go to work and shop using their companies’ Internet connections. Today, lack of high-speed access is less of an issue for most people—but a sizable number are still planning to shop at work. According to the survey 54.5 percent of workers who have Internet access on the job (that’s 70.1 million people) plan to shop for gifts at the office.
Hoping to grab your share of those sneaky shoppers? Here’s what other businesses are doing: Offering specific deals (49 percent, up from 42.9 percent last year), one-day sales (41.2 percent vs. 32.9 percent last year) and free shipping on purchases of all sizes (21.6 percent vs. 15.7 percent last year).
