Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are rolling out online deals today, the so-called "Cyber Monday."
But since shoppers these days are online all the time anyway, the shopping holiday is losing some of its luster. Still, today is expected to be the biggest online shopping day ever, with estimates that it will rack up over $3 billion in sales.
The head of the National Retail Federation, Matthew Shay, says, "It's no longer about one day but a season of digital deals."
Online shopping is taking its toll on brick-and-mortar shopping. Frenzied crowds seemed to be a thing of the past on Black Friday — the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving. According to preliminary numbers from the research firm ShopperTrak, sales fell to $10.4 billion this year, down from $11.6 billion in 2014.
But as online shopping grows more popular on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, that's causing less of a frenzy on Cyber Monday, too.
Retailers have been touting online deals since the beginning of November. And they no longer wait for Monday to roll out Cyber Monday deals, either. Amazon started "Lighting Deals" on Saturday and Wal-Mart beginning all of its Cyber offers on 8 p.m. on Sunday.
%@AP Links
034-c-09-(Chris Rugaber (ROO'-gay-bur), AP economics writer)-"year's holiday spending"-AP correspondent Chris Rugaber reports Cyber Monday is expected to bring in strong sales this year, although customers already have been scooping up early deals on the Internet over the long Thanksgiving holiday. (30 Nov 2015)
<<CUT *034 (11/30/15)££ 00:09 "year's holiday spending"
036-c-19-(Chris Rugaber (ROO'-gay-bur), AP economics writer)-"to repeat that"-AP correspondent Chris Rugaber reports many of the big online retailers are taking steps to make sure that orders are filled and shipped on time this year, after late gifts last year infuriated customers. (30 Nov 2015)
<<CUT *036 (11/30/15)££ 00:19 "to repeat that"
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
