Are you a part of the shopping season yet?

Retailers hope last week’s start to the holiday shopping season translates into a busy buying season online, which is officially to kick off on Monday. Retailers are busy hosting special offers. ComScore, research firm online has projected sales online may exceed $700 million on Monday.

ShopperTrak RCT Corp, which tracks total sales at almost 50,000 retail outlets, reported on Sunday that sales on Friday and Saturday saw a rise of 7.2 percent compared to the same 2 day period a year ago.

Outlets such as Wal-Mart stores Inc and Target Corp and other department stores including Kohl’s Corp drew large crowds making good deals.

Toy stores too fared. Apparels were mixed at clothing stores, though cold weather helped spur sales of outerwear and other winter related items. The co-founder of ShopperTrak said it was a good start to the season and there seemed to have a good demand.

Moving on to online sales, etoys.com is planning to launch a two day sale and Toys “R” Us Inc will be holding a one day sale online, while Wal-Mart stores Inc will go on for a 5 day online sale.

There will be 20 percent off on purchase of jewelry online by online jeweler Blue Nile Inc paid through electronic payment such as Paypal, eBay. Circuit City stores, Sears Holdings Corp, Discovery Store, Crate and Barrel, Overstock.com and others will be offering free shipping on that day.

The executive director of Shop.org, Scott Silverman said that the online community was getting more competitive. Adding to the concerns on economy, sales provided a great way in getting people excited, he said.

Silverman said that the retailers offering free shipping had increased from 36 percent to 41 percent compared to last year.

According to NRF’s annual survey, almost one-third of retailers plan to have one-day sale for cyber Monday. Forty two percent plan to promote.

Some shoppers have decided to spend less on shopping this year. Earl Lee, a mechanic from Live Oak, who was interviewed, said that the gas prices and other commodities were high and he was planning to spend less on shopping this season.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

November 26, 2007 | Filed Under Internet, Tech News