News Desk

Cyber Monday Analysis

The story: With the passing of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and one of the biggest holiday shopping days of the year, both consumers and retailers now look to what is fast becoming the second-busiest shopping day – Cyber Monday – for good deals and robust sales. According to Nory Jones, UMaine associate business professor of management information systems, 84 percent of the nation’s retailers are planning specials for online shoppers today, 12 percent more than last year.

The hook: Jones says statistics show that consumers are becoming more and more aware and educated about Cyber Monday.

“Many consumers are turning to Internet sales, especially if they didn’t get what they wanted on Black Friday,” she says.

Surveys show that 84.6 million shoppers will buy on line today from home or the office, a number that’s up from 72 million last year and from 60 million in 2006, according to Jones. Put another way, that’s 32 percent of the nation’s adults who will shop on line today, double the number from last year.

Jones is available to discuss the phenomenon of Cyber Monday and its implications about society’s increasing reliance on the Internet.

Contact information: Jones can be reached by telephone at 581-1971 or by email at njones@maine.edu.

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