Chicago shoppers say Cyber Monday is an easy sell

Nov 27, 2012

Adrienne Nudo started her holiday shopping at eight stores on Monday without leaving her home. The Cyber Monday shopper said the convenience of online shopping, coupled with incentives from her favorite stores might have her shopping in front of the computer all holiday season long.
“I just like shopping online. With deals and free shipping you canʼt beat it,” she said, while perusing the Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago on Tuesday.
Nudo was one of the many shoppers who contributed to the $1.98 billion spent online on the Monday following Thanksgiving, which has turned into one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. According to a report by Adobe Global Index, consumers spent 17 percent more on Cyber Monday than the year before.
“Retailers have honed and improved websites, mobile sites and social media outreach to be better than ever and consumers know that come Cyber Monday, many retailers will have a slew of new promotions to help them make a real dent in their holiday shopping lists without breaking the bank or even having to head to the store,” says Vicki Cantrell, executive director of Shop.org.
More than 129 million shoppers logged on to make purchases on Cyber Monday, up from 123 million shoppers last year, according to a survey by Shop.org, a retail deals website that coined the phrase Cyber Monday in 2005.
“Iʼm not surprised that online shopping has grown over the years. People want more control over where they shop and when they shop, and the retailers are catering to that,” says Peter Gill, communications director of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. He says many retailers have boosted overall revenue by investing in online and mobile tools for shoppers. “Itʼs not only online versus brick-and-mortar stores, so many stores now have overlap in both.”

Naomi Monray toggles between online and in-store shopping and started her holiday shopping Saturday to avoid the Black Friday crowds. “I will usually look online to see where I can find the best deals then go to the stores,” Monray said.
Tablet and mobile shopping saw a 100 percent boost Monday compared with last yearʼs Cyber Monday. Fourteen percent of Cyber Monday sales were consummated via tablets and 22 percent of purchases were made from mobile devices, according to the Adobe report.
“All retailers are preparing for shoppers on tablets,” Gill said, adding that independent stores are also gearing up to contend with global retailers that can spend more on technology marketing. “It is much different for small independent retailers who compete with big-box retailers and online-only stores. They have a lot of competition not just across the street but across the globe. They have to offer special products and unique deals to entice shoppers just like anyone else.”
Though there are many who are shopping across platforms, Kristy Grabow began her holiday shopping Tuesday walking down State Street in downtown Chicago. She said that she still prefers the old-fashioned kind of shopping, strolling from store to store. “You can see the quality and the colors better. I like looking at the magazines that come out on Thanksgiving, but I take those to the stores with me,” she said.