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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah-based company has increased sales this year through cyber shopping and workers were especially busy on Cyber Monday.
According to digital research agency, Com-Score, when Cyber Monday took off in 2005, sales topped $480 million. In 2012, sales exceeded $1.4 billion, making it the top online spending day of the year. Com-score predicts Cyber Monday will break sales records again.
In the 680,000 square foot warehouse for Overstock.com, holiday helpers are grabbing items off of shelves and sealing roughly 424 boxes an hour — about seven a minute — all to get shoppers ready for the holiday season.
As workers load conveyor belts, Utah-based Overstock-dot-com reports seeing double digit growth year after year.
"We're quite a bit busier than last year," said Carroll Morale, Vice President of Logistics, Overstock.com. "We hope that trend continues throughout the holiday."
NBC News reports say experts expect 130 million people to shop online.
"The competition is hot and heavy through those last 20 to 25 days prior to Christmas," Morale said. "So everybody is comparing cost and you can do it from your phone."
A study released Monday by Ovum.com shows 68 percent of consumers will use desktop and personal computers to shop deals on Cyber Monday. Only 20 percent of shoppers will use Smartphones and 14 percent will use tablets to shop online.
One major incentive to shopping online is that companies such as Overstock.com are offering free shipping through the holiday season.
The company reports shoppers are choosing hot items like electronics when they click the shopping cart to buy holiday gifts.
"Jewelry has been hot. Our toys have been hot," Morale said.
Morale also said more shoppers increasingly prefer to shop online.
"We have the ease of not fighting the crowds year after year," he said. "We've got daily deals and they change periodically."
Morale said workers are staffing the weekends to fill orders.
To add to the holiday spirit, the company is also helping Wounded Warriors.* Since Friday, the Overstock.com has collected more than $4,400 for Wounded Warriors with customers giving $1 donations.
*KSL.com
