Welcome to Cyber Monday

For brick-and-mortar-type retailers, the holiday shopping season officially started last Friday - Black Friday, as it's called. Today, Monday, though, is considered the official start of the 2005 holiday shopping season for online retailers. Hence the name, "Cyber" Monday.According to a Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday survey (and as reported by CNN Money.com) 77 percent of online merchants reported substantial sales increases on the Monday after Thanksgiving last year, a trend that is expected to prompt big online promotions and discounts on Cyber Monday this year.Some stats:

• 43 percent of online retailers plan to offer special promotions and discounts on Cyber Monday. Deals will range from free shipping to gifts with purchase to percentages off.
• More than one-third of the 1,890 consumers surveyed for the report said they will use Internet access at work to browse or buy gifts online this holiday season.
• More than half of young adults the ages of 18 to 24, and nearly half of those aged 25 to 34 said they would shop online during work hours.

The message: Don't expect all that much from your staff today. Not only will they be probably be pretty "draggy" from the long Thanksgiving weekend, but they've got some pressing priorities to attend to today ... like cyber-shopping.So be nice, and maybe one of their purchases will be for you!

-----11/29 post script: According to USA Today, "Cyber Monday looks like it lived up to its hype" as online traffic was more than 30% higher than a typical Monday. It just shows to go ya!