Cyber Monday

Yesterday marked a day that has become as well known as “Black Friday”-the Friday after Thanksgiving. “Cyber Monday” has traditionally been the largest ONLINE shopping day of the year, as web bargain hunters raid the online retailers for great deals.

According to Comscore, a research company, sales of 29.2 BILLION were expected. That would be about flat with last year—saying something since internet sales have grown about 20% each year. There are conflicting reports, however…according to Nielson, traffic at the top 120 retailers was up 10%.

Overall, 85 million Americans were expected to make a purchase online this holiday season, which would be the record for the most ever.

Most intriguing of all (to me) is the growth in CONFIDENCE that we now have about punching our credit card numbers into a computer. Of course, identity theft is at an all-time high---and much of that crime originates from just these kinds of transactions-cyber travel of personal information through servers all over the world. Just a few short years ago, the very thought of plugging your credit card number—or God forbid, your Social Security number into an inanimate object that could be viewed by goodness knows who—would send a shiver up your spine! Now, we happily type away, sending this info across the cyber-universe! Thankfully, most sites are secure (or that little pop-up assuring us that they are makes us feel all warm and cozy!) Once we get the “all systems go”, we’re off to the races!

Shopping for virtually everything—with shipping and even the card and optional gift-wrapping possible-makes the “hassle” over holiday shopping confined to those with carpal tunnel syndrome.

The only thing we CAN’T do is to complain to the recipient that we “drove EVERYWHERE to find that special gift!”

They know better.

And if you run into them at the exchange counter returning YOUR gift, maybe you won’t take it as personally!