Online sites hoping for Cyber Monday surge
Shoppers returned to work Monday, logged onto their computers and started shopping.
Cyber Monday was expected to attract 60.7 million people browsing and shopping online, according to the National Retail Federation, the Washington, D.C.-based retailers' trade group.
Online sales on Cyber Monday were expected to soar 24 percent, to $600 million from last year's $484 million, driven by discount offers, according to ComScore Networks, which tracks Internet audiences.
ComScore forecast Web sales for the entire holiday are expected to jump 24 percent, to $24.3 billion, or as much as 7 percent of all retail sales.
Brick-and-mortar stores, which count on their catalogs and Web sites to draw their biggest-spending shoppers, must keep shoppers interested for the rest of the season, analysts say.
Bargain shoppers love the thrill of the chase, but the political and economic climate will affect how people spend.
This year, shoppers have to decide how wide to open their pocketbooks while they consider dismay about the Iraq war, a weak housing market, political party turnover and a "gas ticker" clicking in their heads, even when gasoline prices drop, analysts say.
Popular gifts thus far include jewelry, toys, video game players, gift cards, iPods, digital cameras, leggings, boots and cashmere scarves and sweaters.