Whiteflash-Diamond Playground

Brian Gavin, executive vice president of whiteflash.com, a Houston-based boutique online jewelry store, said, ‘It’s crazy here today.’ There was a huge jump in sales on Monday, he said: ‘I’m guessing 26 to 30 percent increase compared to last week.’

From the Houston Chronicle - Contrary to myth, Cyber Monday is typically not the busiest day for online shopping. But it has increasingly become a very big day for online promotions. It’s too early to say if this year’s Cyber Monday will live up to the myth — there are still weeks of shopping left in the season — but at the very least it was a huge day. Online spending may have reached an all-time single-day high on Monday, according to comScore, an Internet information provider. Sales may surpass $700 million, fueled in part by discounts available only online by retailers such as Walmart.com and Circuit City, comScore reported. Traditionally, the busiest online shopping days are much closer to the deadline for sending packages by regular ground shipping in time for Christmas, noted William Lynch, CEO of gifts.com. This year, 72 million consumers planned to shop online Monday, up from 61 million in 2006 and 59 million in 2005, according to a survey conducted by BigResearch for Shop.org, a branch of the National Retail Federation. he survey found that 55 percent of office workers with Internet access, or 69 million people, were planning to shop for holiday gifts from work on Monday, up from 51 percent last year. “We’re seeing more and earlier incentives” to shop online, said Alisa Weiner, general manager of comparison shopping at 8-year-old comparison site shopping.com. “There’s more free shipping than we’ve ever seen before,” she noted. What consumers want most when buying online during the holiday season is free shipping, according to a survey commissioned by her company: 86 percent compared with 71 percent who want discounts. On Monday, Wal-Mart began a five-day promotion for discounted items available only online at Walmart.com. The 150 specials are three times the number offered last year. Over the past few years, the most popular retail category for online holiday season purchases at the Yahoo Shopper site was electronics. But this year apparel is No. 1. Fiona Lake Waslander, director of Yahoo Shopper, pointed to a Harris poll showing that 25 percent of consumers are on tighter budgets this year, and apparel typically costs less than electronics. And apparel is for everyone, she said. “It’s an across-the-board gift item,” she said. “I think it indicates that there’s a broader audience shopping online.” Brian Gavin, executive vice president of whiteflash.com, a Houston-based boutique online jewelry store, said, “It’s crazy here today.” There was a huge jump in sales on Monday, he said: “I’m guessing 26 to 30 percent increase compared to last week.” One contractor working for KBR in Baghdad who asked not to be identified said shopping online is just about the only way for him to get holiday gifts to loved ones. Shopping at work is commonplace whenever workers can grab a moment online, he said. That’s because the typical workweek entails 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. “Thanks to the Internet, in as little as a few hours I completed all my Christmas shopping,” he said. People still flock to stores, of course, and business was brisk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Nationally, nearly 5 percent more shoppers visited retailers on Friday compared with last year, the National Retail Federation said. Yet they spent on average 3.5 percent less. In Houston, electronics were the hot item over the holiday weekend, as crowds gathered before stores even opened. Prices of electronics have gone down, giving more consumers access to coveted items, said Barry Moseley, executive team leader for electronics, toys and seasonal items at the SuperTarget store on South Main Street, where up to 150 waited for doors to open Friday morning. At Wal-Mart stores in Houston, shoppers stood in line for flat-screen televisions, DVDs, digital photo frames and GPS navigation systems, among other items, said Daniel Morales, the chain’s communications director of the southwest region. Cold weather also helped. “Coats and sweaters were phenomenal. Cashmere was especially phenomenal,” Macy’s spokesman Ed Smith said. On Friday and over the weekend, “we had crowds waiting outside of every store,” he said. “Most of that was driven by the early morning specials.” Coupon-carrying customers sought five-piece luggage, blankets and diamond pendants on sale at Macy’s in the mornings, he said.