Does ‘Cyber Monday’ cheat Northern Colorado?

Anyone who opted to stay home the day after Thanksgiving to avoid the frenzy of holiday shoppers on Black Friday with the hopes of doing their shopping online probably had another crowd to contend with.

Last year, the National Retail Federation coined the name ‘Cyber Monday‘ for the Monday immediately following Thanksgiving after retailers began noticing a spike in their online traffic on this day. Still not even the busiest day for online shopping (that day varies as Christmas approaches); a survey from NRF projected 61 million people will shop via computer on the first day back to work after the holiday. The NRF reported 140 million people were in stores on Friday.

Feeding the online melee are special offers, percentage savings on Web-purchased items and over 80 percent of surveyed retailers offering some kind of free shipping promotion.

CNNMoney.com reported eBay, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target and Overstock.com as the five most trafficked sites on Cyber Monday 2005, respectively. With five Wal-Marts and three Target stores in Northern Colorado, should smaller retailers who set up shop in the shadow of these big boxes for the associated foot traffic feel concerned by Cyber Monday’s growing appeal?

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