All of this demonstrates a fantastic start to the season, to be sure – but now the focus turns to making the most of the 23 shopping days left. Before shipping deadlines hit in a few weeks, historical patterns tell us that we can likely expect the next two Mondays to be significant sales days also. My take is that retailers are sitting on a gold mine of sales data garnered over Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, which they should now use to make the most of the next few weeks:

Turn best seller data into social media, email, site content. Those rafts of Thanksgiving weekend sales data on best sellers and most popular items are perfect for “trend” messaging. Pepper social media outlets, emails, Web sites and mobile apps with this trend content – it’s up to the minute, it’s authentic (straight from fellow customers), and it’s a rich source of ideas for customers to feel they’re buying the “right” gifts this season (whether for others or for oneself).

Don’t take your eye off the paid search ball. As Michael Griffin of Adlucent noted in the 2011 Shop.org Holiday Strategy & Planning Guide, proactively managing paid search through the extended holiday shopping season is crucial. Review which categories and products spiked over Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, then see if it’s feasible to advertise those proactively; adjust day parting rules to reflect holiday shopping behavior (patterns may be quite different now than even a few weeks ago); and add site links to top performing categories to improve click through rates and traffic.

Remarket shopping carts to customers who didn’t quite get to “confirm order.” Maybe the customer just wasn’t sure, maybe they were shopping at multiple sites, maybe they’re still holding out for a better offer even now – my guess is that there are many abandoned shopping carts sitting out there after last weekend. Whatever the original reason for leaving, that unrequited shopping cart is a natural way to reengage (quickly!) with the customer, with or without a sweetener such as a discount or shipping offer. Check out several papers in the Shop.org White Paper Library on this topic, from companies such as SeeWhy and Listrak.

• Online shoppers are primed for Cyber Monday deals. According to a recent consumer survey conducted by BIGresearch, more than 5 out of 10 adults over the age of 18 plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year. Good news: among online shoppers, that’s more like 9 out of 10. Much like last year, the ubiquity of broadband connections in homes across the U.S. means that almost 9 out of 10 Cyber Monday shoppers will shop from a computer at home – just 16% plan to shop while at work
• Tap email, search and social media to catch online shoppers early – and throughout the day. Well over three-quarters of retailers surveyed are planning to offer special promotions for Cyber Monday, so the key is for retailers to beat competitors to the messaging punch. Much like last year, Cyber Monday shoppers will be ready early: 58.3% of online shoppers will look for Cyber Monday deals in the early morning. Retailers need to get out their Cyber Monday emails, Facebook wall posts and Tweets early to catch the shopper’s eye – and share of wallet (nor should retailers forget about search as part of the mix). That said, shopping demand will continue throughout the day, with as many as one-quarter of online shoppers still browsing deals by the late evening. As such, a steady, coordinated series of Facebook and Twitter updates highlighting offers and specials will stoke consumer interest throughout the day.
• One quarter of Cyber Monday shoppers anticipate using mobile devices. The real standout this year, of course, is the continued rise of mobile devices for Cyber Monday shoppers: 14.5% of all Cyber Monday shoppers expect to use a smartphone and/or tablet device for at least part of their shopping, double the number we saw last year (6.9%). Among online shoppers this year, however, that’s actually a whopping 23.8%. For a retailer, that’s another golden opportunity to proactively make an offer to a specific customer, especially if that retailer can tap into location-based mobile advertisements with a specific call to action.

For further information, please see the NRF press release and data.

So, with four weeks to go before December 25, what does Black Friday weekend tell online retailers?

Economic worries notwithstanding, U.S. consumers appear – for now, at least – determined to have a good holiday this year.

• Of the estimated total $52.4 billion that we lavished on gifts (and ourselves) this weekend, 37.8% was spent directly online (a tidy $19.81 billion), up from 33.3% last year (or $14.98 billion).
• Online Black Friday weekend buyers spent an average of $470.79 on holiday shopping, or 18% more than the average for all shoppers this weekend. Of that, online Black Friday Weekend buyers spent $246.15 directly online. But in something of a surprise turn of events, men spent an average of $200 online, women spent closer to $100 online, showing how men like a bargain but may not want be in stores to nab those.
• Top of the shopping lists for online shoppers this weekend: clothing and accessories (65.2%, vs. 51.4% of all shoppers); books and media (55.4%, vs. 37% of all shoppers); consumer electronics and computer-related accessories (54.9%, vs. 39.4% of all shoppers); toys (46.8%, vs. 32.6% of all shoppers), and – of course! – gift cards (37.4%, vs. 23.1% of all shoppers).

However, consumers are still intent on finding value, and are actively doing the homework – and pavement pounding legwork – to find that.

• One-third of online Black Friday weekend buyers shopped on Thanksgiving Day, rising to almost three-quarters on Saturday. Of those who shopped on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), half got to the store by 6 a.m., with fully one-third arriving before or right around midnight.
• True to cross-channel shopper form, online Black Friday weekend buyers shopped in multiple venues, not only the web, including department stores (58.3%) and discount stores (43.8%) to specialty stores such as electronics (43%) and clothing and accessories (37.4%).

Retailers need to communicate the value that they offer clearly, repeatedly, and across all channels and marketing media to get consumers to make that purchase.

Online shopping is now firmly entrenched across three screens, requiring increased coordination between retail teams.

• As predicted, smartphones and tablet devices figured prominently in online Black Friday weekend buyer shopping. Over half of those who own a smartphone or a tablet device planned to use these to research products and compare prices, while 2 out of 5 planned to look up retailer information such as locations, hours, and the like. Not surprisingly, tablet device owners were somewhat more likely to purchase products via this device than were smartphone owners.

In the weeks ahead, retailers need to ensure that online shopping works flawlessly (and, I’d add, intuitively) across the web, smartphone and tablet device, as well as integrated with stores and catalog operations. That means not just from a technical standpoint, but also in terms of ongoing coordination between teams spanning marketing, merchandising, customer service, fulfillment and, of course, development.

Don’t let up on site monitoring and operations. When we asked retailers last year in our post-holiday survey, “Looking ahead, what ONE thing will you do differently for holiday 2011?” inventory management and site performance topped the list. In recent years, the first three Mondays following Thanksgiving are among the top online grossing days for the holiday season, so retailers need to be prepared for that onslaught of traffic and demand (this year, that’s Cyber Monday (November 28), along with December 5 and 12). Monitor the site vigilantly, prepare the fulfillment and customer service teams, and ensure that marketing isn’t planning to push a product or category that merchandising knows is selling through faster than anticipated.

While I tend to focus primarily on online retail, the results of both the October and November Consumer Intentions & Actions Survey from BIGresearch underscore again that consumers are really cross-channel shoppers, primed to take advantage of retailers’ holiday deals across the Web, stores, smartphones and tablet devices – or where and when it suits them best.

Consumers are waiting for holiday marketing (read: offers) to kick in. Just under half of holiday shoppers said they haven’t started their shopping yet, in any channel. Not surprisingly, more women than men have started their shopping. Adults aged 25 to 34 years old appear the most organized among us, with 58 percent having already started their shopping. This year, shoppers are actively checking for deals before shopping this holiday weekend and, of course, on Cyber Monday.

Cash is king. More than four in 10 consumers say their debit cards will be their primary payment method for holiday purchases this year, representing a ten-year high for this payment type. Among all consumers, one-quarter expect to use cash most often; for online shoppers, that’s a tad lower (21.6%). For online retailers, the mandate is clear: offer and clearly market to customers multiple payment options, including debit cards and alternative payment options such as PayPal. The September 2010 Shop.org / Javelin Strategy & Research “Merchant Perspectives on Online Alternative Payments” study found that, at the time, 54% of consumers wanted to use alternative payment methods, but only one-third of retailers surveyed actually offered these, possibly stunting conversion and increasing cart abandonment.

Age foretells likelihood to spend more this year… Across all channels, approximately half of U.S. consumers plan to keep holiday shopping budgets largely in step with last year. The good news: 19% of online shoppers plan to spend more this year than last for the holiday shopping season, a slightly higher percentage than all holiday shoppers. Also likely to spend more this year are young adults: well over one-third of 18 to 24 year old consumers will spend more this year than last, along with 28 percent of 25 to 34 year olds who plan to spend more. By contrast, just 10% of 45 to 55 year olds expect to increase their budgets.

…As well as which gifts consumers are likely to buy. Among U.S. consumers aged 18 to 34, clothing and accessories top the list for two-thirds, while closer to half of consumers age 45 and older plan to buy this category. Three out of 5 consumers aged 18 to 44 will hone in on books and media (including CDs, DVDs, videos, and video games) – but that number drops significantly for older consumers. Consumer electronics top the list for four out of 10 shoppers ages 18 to 44.

Cash is king (again). Not only do U.S. holiday shoppers want to pay via cash-based options, two thirds of online consumers also want to receive cash themselves – that is, gift cards. Knowing this, well over half (57.3%) of all holiday shoppers this year have gift cards on their holiday shopping lists (and that’s closer to two-thirds for online shoppers). Just as we see gift cards strategically placed in stores at cash registers, retailers shouldn’t miss the chance to cross-sell their online customers with gift cards before or during the check out process – particularly if online gift cards offer personalization and/or other convenience features (e.g. adding a video greeting, instant delivery via Facebook wall, etc.) that a physical card doesn’t offer. And just think of the post-holiday marketing opportunities that all those gift cards out there afford retailers after December 25 has come and gone.

Here’s how retailers are ramping up their sites in anticipation of the big holiday weekend. Have you made your list and checked it twice?

Online vehicles promote in-store… eHoliday 2011 pre-holiday results released today reveal that retailers aren’t leaving store foot traffic to chance, and are harnessing every available marketing vehicle to drive shoppers into stores. Four out of five retailers surveyed that operate brick and mortar stores note they’ll be using email to promote their Black Friday in-store specials. Social media outlets will be bursting with in-store information this week: three-quarters of these retailers will tap Facebook to get the word out (up from just over half last year), while more than half will be busily tweeting about their in-store offers and happenings (up from not quite one third last year).

…Though home page messaging and search appear under-tapped. Somewhat oddly, only about half of these same retailers plan to tap home page messaging and search marketing to promote in-store Black Friday specials. The key here is to remember than consumers do not see retailers in terms of channels, but rather as a variety of touch points for one and the same retailer. Knowing that consumers are going online to explore in-store specials and offerings, savvy retailers will make that information – along with store location, hours and other in-store shopping aides – easily accessible via all touch points.

Online, Cyber Monday is key, while Thanksgiving Day offers grow. One third of retailers surveyed started promoting Thanksgiving and Black Friday specials as early as last week, while another third will be starting today. Consumers can expect marketing campaigns and programs that span special email campaigns (four out of five retailers surveyed), as well as deals on specific products or categories (close to three-quarters of retailers). Retailers are warming to the idea of special promotions specifically for Thanksgiving Day this year, but, given its established traction with consumers, over three-quarters of retailers surveyed will have a Cyber Monday offer. Cyber Monday offers will center on percentage off coupons for close of half of retailers surveyed, along with limited time promotions and free standard shipping for approximately one-third.

At every touch point, be ready for the crush of traffic. As examples such as Target have shown in recent months, online retailers need to be ready for the crush of traffic sure to grace their online doorsteps over the coming long holiday weekend. While the Target platform is as yet fairly new, site outages clearly can (and do) happen to anyone. Every retailer would be wise to do another round of load testing in the next day or two, as well as make sure processes and lines of communication between development, marketing and customer service (at very least) are firmly established and well rehearsed in case the site is ever unavailable. Review your “we’ll be back soon” page to make sure it is helpful (what’s happening? How can the customer call customer service to place an order? Store locator or list and hours? etc.) and also true to the brand (visuals, voice, etc.) – with nary a hint of “Error 404 – Page not found”.

For the full results of the November NRF / BIGresearch consumer survey, please see the eHoliday results, press releases and survey data.

When I asked the current Shop.org Board of Directors to share their board experiences, here was a great response from Kevin Ertell.“I love the networking, the highly intelligent discussions with some of the industry’s best thinkers and most of all, I love the opportunity to contribute to the growth and health of our industry.”

Having been on the board as both a service provider and now as CMO of OnlineShoes.com, Kevin knows what he’s talking about. He went on to say, “It’s tough to narrow down the best part of service on the board.”

Now that Shop.org is currently accepting nominations through June 24th for the new board term, I couldn’t agree more with Kevin. And like him, I’ve served on the board myself, so I can tell you first hand just how rewarding the experience is and how much I attribute my professional growth and connections to my board service.

Here’s what other current retail and solution provider board members have to say. When asked about the best part of serving on the Shop.org Board of Directors, Pinny Gniwisch, Co-Founder & EVP Marketing of Ice.com, like a few of his fellow directors referenced the high-level thinkers in the group saying, “Being on the Shop.org Board has given me the ability to interact with the smartest minds in ecommerce around.”

Troy Brown, Retail Practice Leader at Demandware, also mentioned the camaraderie he feels “with other board members that has been formed while working with some of the brightest people in the industry.”

It’s not just about the networking and sharing of ideas. Patti Freeman Evans, VP of Research Director for Forrester Research, talked about the service to the industry saying “As part of the board I feel I am giving back and contributing to the growth of an industry that has been good to me. It’s an industry that has been exciting thus far and is poised for great change going forward.”

What makes a good board member? According to Rich Last, JCP.com and Board Chairman of Shop.org, it’s all about “Passion for digital retail, demonstrated active involvement in Shop.org, recognized leadership in our industry, and vision for the future of digital retail.”

If you feel like this is group of industry leaders is something you want to be a part of, I encourage you to nominate yourself. We are, after all, “by the member, for the member.”

A few highlights of our survey findings:

• Average web sales growth across all retailers surveyed was 29% (Q4 2010 vs. Q4 2009)
• One quarter of retailers surveyed experienced YOY growth of 50% or higher.
• Retailers earning over $100 million in annual web revenue reported average growth of 24%.

Many retailers noted that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were especially strong this year. Several noted increases in average order value (AOV), while others commented on promotions as part of the market landscape.

The big question now, of course, is whether this increased penchant for spending will last into Q1 and beyond, or will consumers step back now that the after-Christmas sales are done? The first test comes with Valentine’s Day gearing up in a matter of weeks.

Shop.org members can download the full results summary now from the Shop.org site.

Congratulations on an incredibly successful Cyber Monday – your biggest sales day ever! What trends did you see develop on Cyber Monday this year compared to last, and how do you hope to keep the sales momentum going through the rest of the holiday season?

First, thank you for the congratulations. It was a fun weekend as Black Friday beat our previous record with sales up 76% over Black Friday last year. Then we were fortunate to eclipse our new record three days later on Cyber Monday with sales up 54% versus last year. All in all, over the five-day Cyber Weekend, eBags sales were up 63% versus the same five days last year. When you’re in retail, it doesn’t get much better than that.

We think there are several factors that played a role in our growth. On the macro side, there is no question more shoppers are using the internet to conduct research and make purchases. This year, we knew the holidays would be challenging so we started planning last spring. That included all facets from marketing and merchandising, to site performance and logistics. We were running A:B tests less than a week before Black Friday to come up with the optimum product detail page. And our logistics team carved out a full day in the average time it takes to get a package to the customer, which will be critical as we get closer to the Christmas shipping deadline.

In many of NRF’s consumer surveys, we’ve noticed a shift in holiday gift giving away from basics and necessities back to more discretionary, “fun” gifts. We’re also noticing an emphasis on value over price. Are you seeing similar trends this holiday season?

Clearly value is important to shoppers and we knew that would be the case this holiday so we negotiated with many of our brands to move their traditional December 26 through January sale events forward to the Black Friday through Christmas time period. Why not have your best products and lowest prices for when customers are shopping for the holidays? One by one, our brands agreed and eBags has been able to offer great deals to our customers. But to your question about basics vs. fun, we saw our luggage and laptop case categories grow 78% and 73%, respectively, powered by the strength of top brands such as Tumi, Samsonite, and Kenneth Cole. We would categorize these purchases as more along the lines of basics and we think there is quite a bit of pent-up customer demand to get back out and shop again. Retail therapy, if you will.

As online retail continues to grow, companies have been investing in site features and services to maximize their holiday sales. According to a recent Shop.org survey, a majority of retailers say they have invested in the company’s Facebook page in advance of the holidays and many say they have invested more this holiday season in a Twitter campaign or Twitter feed. Talk about how eBags is using social media to leverage its online presence.

I am a big believer in social media, yet clearly the potential of Facebook and Twitter for online retailers has not been realized. It is not a question of if, but when social and retail will converge. At eBags, we have done a nice job of building out our Facebook page and are active with Twitter and our blog. Probably the most promising area in regards to social media on eBags is how our 400+ videos are tied into Facebook. When a shopper watches a video on eBags.com, like the eBags TLS Weekender, they can click “Like” or make a comment and the video and comment are uploaded to the shopper’s Facebook account. The viral potential of eBags videos ending up on thousands of Facebook pages is exciting.

On the eBags blog you mention being thankful you get to work in the “wonderfully challenging, fast-paced world of internet retail.” What do you find most rewarding about e-commerce?

I love the fact that e-commerce is an uber-dynamic environment which allows for real-time testing, revising, and optimizing. The metrics are there for everyone in the company to see 24/7. At any time, eBags.com executes multiple online tests and customers tell us via their clicks which options work best for them. And the results are not always what you expect, which reinforces the need to test.

You recently brought your core customer service center back to the US and expanded your call center hours to 24/7. How do you think these operational changes will impact your sales this season? What prompted you to make the change?

Several years ago we split off part of our Denver-based customer call center and had many of our incoming calls handled by a team in the Philippines. This outsourcer handled calls for several other top 100 e-commerce retailers and did a nice job for us. This fall we decided to return our call center to the US. Although our new domestic call center is not the lowest cost option, we believe it is a smart investment that will pay off in both the short-term and long-term, through additional immediate sales, quicker issue resolution, and ultimately higher customer retention and satisfaction. The move to a 24/7 call center as well as offering chat, Facebook, and Twitter allows us to communicate with our customers whenever they want and through their preferred method. We are here to listen and, as shown by our two million customer reviews to date, our customers have a lot to say.

Traditional retail stores can utilize storefront window displays to attract customers and showcase hot products. In what ways can a purely online retailer establish visuals that similarly engage customers and enhance the shopping experience?

You hit on an area where we think the internet has distinct advantages versus brick and mortar. A bricks-and-mortar store has a window display that is the same for everyone and is cumbersome and expensive to change out. Even twelve years ago when we started eBags.com, being able to create a personalized shopping experience for every visitor was our goal. We made significant investments in this area in 2010 and are well on our way to optimizing personalized shopping on eBags.com. Being able to tailor creative and offerings to online shoppers is a big reason why e-commerce will continue to steal retail market share.

With airlines limiting the number and size of bags customers can carry on planes, what are some things to keep in mind this holiday season when shopping for the perfect carry-on?

The “rules of engagement” with the airlines and TSA are always changing and it is important to think about the bag you carry on. On some of my most recent flights, they are instructing the last one-third of passengers boarding the plane to gate check their carry-ons because the overhead bins are full. For this reason, we advise travelers to select a carry-on that can withstand the rigors of being checked. Also, since you give up possession of the carry-on for a period of time, make sure that the bag can be securely locked. Another trend is that travelers are packing smarter and opting for convertible backpacks that can be used as a small duffel, yet have backpack straps to make it easy to throw on your back when walking longer distances. Some of these have the advantage of fitting into regional jet smaller overhead compartments or under the seat, thereby avoiding the need to check. One last thing I tell people shopping online is to make sure you read the customer testimonials. We have over two million on eBags.com and it is invaluable to get feedback from others who have purchased and used the products. I am always amazed at the level of detail eBags customers include in their bag testimonials.

Your corporate values are respectful, resourceful, achieving, pioneering, and passionate. If you could add a sixth value, what would it be?

That is a hard one because the team of eBaggers that came up with those values spent a considerable amount of time before landing on the five finalists. Maybe I would add “fun-loving” because we have a culture that promotes having fun along the way to make sure we do not take ourselves too seriously. We are charged with navigating through complex technologies, stiff competition, and demanding shoppers. Those that see that as a fun challenge do well at eBags.

Given its relative newness, though, how much of a difference is mobile actually making this holiday season?

When we asked retailers in the 2010 eHoliday pre-holiday survey (conducted in partnership with BIGresearch) what they had invested in most significantly this year to prepare for the holidays, over one quarter specifically cited mobile commerce applications.

A smart move, it turns out, as consumers are increasingly using mobile devices as part of their shopping research and purchasing experience. While 38.5% of consumers stated they don’t have a smartphone,  over a quarter of consumers said they definitely planned to use their smartphone to research or make holiday purchases.

To top it off, consumers also told us that mobile phones play an increasingly important role for major holiday shopping events such as Cyber Monday, when 6.9% of consumers planned to use their mobile device to shop. If that percentage looks small, consider that it translates into over seven million individuals in the US, and that these numbers are almost double those for Cyber Monday last year (if this trend plausibly continues next year, that’s an increasingly significant chunk of your customer base).

While it’s a little late to change much vis-à-vis your mobile execution for this holiday season, I encourage both mobile “newbies” and “experts” alike to spend an hour listening to the playback of our November 15 Webinar on “The Obstacles and Enablers of Mobile Commerce” with Sucharita Mulpuru and Andrew Koven, President of E-Commerce & Customer Experience at Steve Madden.

Best practices abound in this webinar with tactics and examples from a variety of retailers. Perhaps most striking of all is the realization that it’s not just about mobile as a singular channel – or even a channel that will deliver tons of sales directly – but rather as part of a “synchronized experience,” as Sucharita notes, across all of one’s channels.

Something tells me we’ll be seeing more of this cross-channel support between mobile, desktop and store in the coming year – and a whole lot more by the time Holiday 2011 rolls around.

Of course, all eyes in retail now are on Cyber Monday, and here is what NRF / BIGresearch data tells us some of what retailers can expect:

• 106.9 million consumers plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, a nice jump from last year’s 96.5 million.
• Retailers are fueling consumer interest in Cyber Monday with special offers, free shipping promotions and other specials to entice consumers to spend online.
• While 9 out of ten consumers (96 million people) plan to shop from home, over seven million (6.9%) plan to use their smartphone for this purpose also — and that’s even higher among consumers aged 18 to 34. Retailers who have set up their mobile sites with store locator, pricing, and customer review info should do well with these consumers.
• 44.2% of Cyber Monday shoppers plan to shop online in the early morning hours, posing little problem for those retailers who have been diligent about load testing their site for the holidays. Traffic should progressively ease a bit over the course of the day (particularly over the lunch hour — lunch itself appears to be taking precedence over shopping for many), with one quarter of Cyber Monday shoppers shopping in the early evening.

For further detail, please see Cyber Monday Trends 2010, as well as the Shop.org press release.

We all probably know the story by now… Right around the turn of the 21st century, people in ecommerce started to notice that on the Monday following Thanksgiving they saw the first big sales spike of the holiday season. In those days, most people had faster Internet connections at work than at home. So naturally, after a weekend of turkey and football with family and friends, they returned to work primed to shop online during their lunch hours.

Shop.org and its parent, the National Retail Federation, were watching this phenomenon, too. In fact, it was NRF who came up with the catchy name Cyber Monday. And it was Shop.org who partnered with Mall Networks, now called Cartera Commerce, to develop the CyberMonday.com site.

No one knew what to expect over those first few years. Despite the data, not everyone believed that Cyber Monday was, in fact, a bona fide phenomenon. Gradually, though, it became clear that—yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And there is a sales spike on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Cyber Monday has become a great way for retailers to mark the beginning of the busiest time of the year for online sales. And Cyber Monday deals have proven to be great hits with consumers. This year, nine in ten retailers will feature a Cyber Monday promotion, and Shop.org will release an estimate on the number of people who plan to shop on Cyber Monday this weekend.

Which brings me to the CyberMonday.com site. Have you visited it lately? If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat. More than 700 retailers participate on the site, offering deals on this holiday season’s most popular products along with free shipping, which is good news for consumers hoping to save a little while still giving great gifts. And to top it off, a portion of the profits go to the Ray Greenly Scholarship Fund.

With new deals going up every day, CyberMonday.com is a must for everyone who shops online. And Shop.org, NRF, and Cartera are doing all they can to make this year’s Cyber Monday the best ever.

As the group widely credited for coining the phrase “Cyber Monday,” we’re always looking for ways to raise the profile of this important kick-off to the online holiday shopping season, trying to think outside the box for ways to bring shoppers online after the Black Friday weekend left them wanting more. In 2009, nearly 100 million people shopped on Cyber Monday, and many retailers are looking to the Monday after Thanksgiving to bring another sales surge this year. For information about what Cyber Monday is (and what it isn’t), view these FAQs.

Shop.org offers several ways for retailers to maximize their Cyber Monday efforts, both ahead of time and on the all-important Monday after Thanksgiving. Here’s a rundown of what we’re working on this year:

CyberMonday.com: Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com is getting a new look just in time for the holidays. The new site will feature top Holiday products and Top Holiday Deals and will allow shoppers to connect with us via Twitter and Facebook to see more featured deals, be eligible for giveaways, and sign up for email alerts. We’ll also be featuring deals of the week throughout the holiday season and Deals of the Hour on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Last year, the site was named the #1 place to shop on Cyber Monday by Time magazine and has been featured on the Today Show, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and thousands of other places.

According to Cartera Commerce, which powers the site for us, shoppers spent more than $12 million through CyberMonday.com last holiday season and more than $38 million since the site was launched in November 2006.

If you’re not one of the 700+ retailers currently listed on CyberMonday.com, there’s still time to get your company involved this year. In order to be listed on the site by Cyber Monday, your company must have an affiliate program with Commission Junction, the Google Affiliate Network, Linkshare or the Pepperjam Network and sign up by November 12. (A bonus for Shop.org members: if you sign up by Oct. 31, we’ll waive the $4,000 integration fee, which includes site placement, a listing in two categories along with a description of your company.) To learn more about how you can get your site listed on CyberMonday.com, email Marc Mazzone at Cartera Commerce.

If you already are one of the retailers listed on CyberMonday.com, there are still ways to make your company more visible on the site. Among them:

• Cartera Commerce tells me that the home page is almost sold out, but there are two spots open (that’s an opportunity only for current Shop.org members).
• There is still space available on shopping category pages for banners and logos.
• After a hugely-popular experiment last year, CyberMonday.com will feature a “Deal of the Hour” for Cyber Monday and Black Friday. There are still opportunities available for companies who wish to provide exclusive discounts or offers on the site.
• There are a handful of spots remaining for the “Top Deals” and “Top Products” placements on the home page.

Marc is also the one to contact about these opportunities.

Social media opportunities: Instead of hosting a Cyber Monday event in Washington, last year our consumer outreach for Cyber Monday went national (and social). The change was so successful – and so many retailers wanted to participate – that we are extending our social media outreach this year. Thousands of shoppers became fans of ours on Facebook and followed us on Twitter for shopping deals, and many retailers found new customers in the process. This year’s giveaways will start on Nov. 1 and we’re limiting Facebook opportunities to one retailer per day, so time is of the essence if you want to join in.

If you want to know how to partner with us on Facebook or Twitter with gift card giveaways or get more information on what we’re planning from a social media perspective, just shoot me an email. (Please note that this opportunity is only available to retailers who have a presence on CyberMonday.com.)

PR opportunities: If you want your company to get in the news this holiday season, and you’re a Shop.org or NRF member, we can most definitely help. In the past, we’ve heard from retailers who are open to discussing their Cyber Monday plans with the media. This year, we’re ramping up that partnership to help our members get the most out of their Cyber Monday news while also helping the reporters we regularly work with gather in-depth information from reliable sources for their stories.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more details about providing your company’s Cyber Monday promotions to reporters in advance and/or if you have a company executive or spokesperson who can talk with the media on the record about what your company is planning for Cyber Monday this year. We can also arrange for a Shop.org or NRF executive to provide a holiday-related quote for your company’s press release, provide you with Cyber Monday or holiday shopping survey data for releases, or speak with reporters on the record about the trend in general.

For most of us in retail, the holiday season remains the most exhilarating, gratifying, overwhelming, and profitable time of the year. We look forward to seeing what retailers have planned this year for the holidays!

Retailers everywhere know the importance of protecting consumer data along with the damage – from both a monetary and branding standpoint – that a breach creates. So it seemed especially fitting that our first official blog post during the Summit feature a Q&A with Souheil Badran, eCommerce Solutions Division Manager for First Data. In his Q&A, Souheil discusses key trends in the world of alternative payments, shares advice for retailers on the best way to get started when expanding globally, and provides insights on how executives can protect their companies from fraud.

What are some of the key trends you’re watching in the world of online payments?

First Data's Souheil Badran

Some of the big trends that we are seeing right now are the shift away from credit cards as the primary form of online payment, merchants’ desire to find new ways to grow their business and the concern over more complicated PCI requirements and customer data storage.

Something different from a few years ago – due to the recession, tighter credit markets and higher consumer debt – is people have become less willing or able to spend using their credit cards. This is making payment alternatives like PayPal, Bill Me Later, eCheck and debit much more popular payment options that merchants should offer their customers. Each one has distinct pluses, but the bottom line is consumers will need options; otherwise, they will abandon purchases and merchants will suffer with less sales.

We are also seeing is a growing concern over data breaches and customer data storage. PCI compliance rules are getting more and more complicated. Every day we are seeing more news about encryption and tokenization solutions that can help address these needs. Being able to provide merchants with a solution that removes the burden and stress of adhering to the PCI compliance rules and the headache of storing this card data on their own systems will only become increasingly more important to online retailers.

Many retailers see global expansion as a huge growth opportunity, but international expansion can be daunting. What advice would you give companies looking into this? What’s the best way to get started?

Deciding to take your online business global is not a one-size-fits-all approach anymore. In the past, merchants simply set up a single website and drove traffic to it from all over the world. Another approach retailers can consider is cross-border eCommerce. Setting up an international business or cross-border eCommerce website is a complex endeavor. Most successful merchants will say it’s worth the effort, but newcomers could face a few unexpected challenges such as dealing with the global network of acquiring banks, legal and regulatory concerns, the different payment types and taxes, currency conversion and fraud, and credit risk prevention.

One way to implement this approach is to select a consolidated, single provider, which alleviates the expertise merchants must have on local laws and regulations relating to transaction reporting, processing payments, handling returns, chargebacks, and collecting value-added taxes (VAT). By doing it themselves, merchants must know all the regulations and idiosyncrasies of each country, expanding the complexity associated with setting up their business. Some of the benefits merchants gain through this model is faster time to market, more rapid expansion into subsequent markets, reduced maintenance and personnel costs, simplified reporting and reduced fraud and risk.

At this week’s Summit, executives from Groupon and Facebook will discuss their company’s “disruptive business models.” What other companies do you see as disruptive to the online retail space?

I see the disruption coming from both traditional providers as well as new companies. At the center of it all is interest by consumers to continue convergence of the mobile device, which will ultimately result in electronic payments in online and brick-and-mortar retail environments being conducted on the mobile phone. This will only fuel the importance of social media in driving purchase behavior.

From a payments perspective you’re going to see new ways that providers will try to enable an easier, more convenient way for consumers to transact when and where they want.  You have seen it recently from STAR and Obopay in providing ways for financial institutions to offer a fast, secure and convenient way for their customers and members to send and receive money using their mobile phones. Similarly, AMEX and Foursquare launched a new app that lets users track items they want to buy, upload photos of purchases and provide comments, which extends efforts already in place to retain customers within their own card environment. These may not specifically be “disruptive technologies”, but they are examples of how we are seeing the payments space evolve from the disruptive technologies you mention.

What is the biggest mistake you see companies make when it comes to protecting data?

I think merchants who take a proactive, comprehensive approach through the adoption of a tailored fraud and risk management solution will ultimately protect their business and increase profitability. Online merchants face continued challenges in finding and implementing a solution that adequately mitigates fraudulent orders, protects sensitive cardholder data, meets the requirements of PCI compliance and other industry regulations, and that does not slow or impair business processes or decrease profits. Merchants also risk incurring damage to their reputation and brand, and the consequences associated with loss of trust from customers are difficult to overcome. Merchants simply cannot ignore the impact of fraud to their business and their bottom line.

Looking ahead, how do you see online retail changing over the next five years?

Mobility and the convergence of virtual and physical worlds with a common access point is going to be a huge driver in how consumers transact with retailers. We are already starting to see the shift from eCommerce to mobile and this trend is likely not to slow down. Consumer demographics, like age, have a lot to do with this trend and, as a payments provider, we need to ensure that we enable the access points and provide the capabilities for retailers to maximize the shift to mobile retail. Consumer behavior will also be driven by retailers’ ability to take advantage of the mobile device by delivering value directly to the consumer. An example is offering things like relevant incentives or messages to consumers when they are in the proximity of the product or service provider.  This is analogous to the modern version of checkout lane product placement. Really the opportunities are endless as the technology matures.

With an abundance of alternative payment options in the market, what should merchants consider when developing an online payments strategy?

The research that we see shows that alternative payment methods are getting more and more of the consumers’ wallet. They are less trusting and reliant on credit cards. They are looking for ways to use things like PayPal or Google Checkout that simplify the process and provide new options. eCheck is also popular and we are seeing a rise in the desire for online debit as customer credit is not as strong or as available. As consumer preferences shift away from credit, online merchants should understand and implement an alternative payments strategy that is aligned with their business size, type and demographics.

Providing alternative payment options is shown to increase average order value, as they can offer customers access to additional sources of credit. In addition to improving sales and customer satisfaction, offering extra payment options may provide new opportunities for merchants to reduce their total cost of payments. It is important to note that each new payment option a merchant decides to offer comes with its own fees, settlement and funding time frames, authorization requirements, risk management features and chargeback handing processes.

How can retailers protect themselves – and their customers – from data breaches and fraud?

A few things come to mind as fraudsters continue to become more sophisticated in their attacks. One is technology is now available to help merchants securely keep payment card data isolated while allowing access when needed. Some of the newer technologies, such as tokenization, eliminate the need for merchants to store card data at all—and as a result can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of PCI compliance.

Another is to look into tools that enable you to score transactions using multiple data points to set parameters. These data points don’t have to be just about the transaction detail like card number or CVV or AVS but can also monitor velocity behavior, bill to/ship to address, email, phone number, IP address, device ID and even product SKUs.

What advice would you give a retail executive looking to boost holiday sales this year?

I think one of the main ways to help boost holiday sales this year is to ensure your website can handle the Cyber Monday spike. The Monday after Thanksgiving is a key online shopping day, so you want to make sure your site can handle a spike in traffic and provide a streamlined shopping and payments experience to both new and seasoned users.

Another is to accept an array of payment types. This way your customers can pay the way they desire, making it easy for them to purchase goods and services on your site.

Also, fraud scoring tools can help in making the right automated decisions quicker and more effectively during high-volume periods so that you are able to accept more good orders and reduce the number that may result in chargebacks.

One last tip I’d like to mention is setting your customers’ minds at rest by assuring them that their transactions will be safe, which goes a long way in increasing sales and winning repeat business from your customers. Make sure your site displays the appropriate security marks (TRUSTe, VeriSign, etc.), so shoppers feel confident they are protected and won’t abandon their shopping carts.

I have a few observations and comments.

First, congratulations to the many retailers who experienced a strong kick off to their online holiday season.  Based on the reports I’m seeing, many retailers saw significant growth yesterday.  While we don’t yet know if Cyber Monday is a bellwether for the rest of the holiday, the strong start is certainly encouraging and is aligned with the optimism expressed by so many online retailers heading into the holiday season.  This strong performance is yet another reminder of online being the bright spot in retail.

The ongoing media coverage was quite impressive including CNBC broadcasting the entire afternoon from Amazon.com’s distribution center in Phoenix.  One of my favorite stories was in the Boston Globe – Cyber Monday dilemma: Brady or bargains?  The answer, of course, is that you can shop and watch Tom Brady (lose to the Saints as was the case last night) by doing what has become a regular occurrence – shopping online on a laptop from the comfort of your couch while watching your favorite TV show.

Like every year, we saw the Cyber Monday doubters.  This year, the doubters were suggesting that Cyber Monday is no longer relevant because retailers started their promotions early and plan to offer them them past Cyber Monday.  I think they’re missing the point.  Black Friday is a decades old retail tradition and retailers have held sales and promotions before and after this day as well.  Yet, these activities haven’t diminished the importance of Black Friday or the number of people who venture out for deals.  Similarly, with more people shopping on Cyber Monday and more retailers offering deals, Cyber Monday has only grown in importance.

As the group that coined the term, Cyber Monday, this day has special meaning to Shop.org.  Not only because of the excitement it brings to the industry, but also because it is our primary opportunity to raise money for the Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund.  I’d like to thank the many Shop.org retail members who participated in Cybermonday.com this year.  Once again, we had record traffic to the site, which we expect will result in record money raised for the scholarship fund not to mention the sales it sends to participants.

Congratulations again to the retail industry for a great Cyber Monday!

Stay tuned to this blog and Shop.org’s Holiday Central for ongoing updates about the 2009 Online Holiday Season.

A few details about how consumers are thinking about Cyber Monday ’09:

• 42% of all Americans plan to shop online on Cyber Monday.  Make that closer to half for consumers earning $50,000 or more per year; ditto for consumers aged 18 to 34. By contrast, just one third of consumers 55 years and older expect to shop online that day.
• If you still think Cyber Monday shoppers consist primarily of workers with Internet access, guess again:  nine out of ten Cyber Monday shoppers this year will be online at home.
• Cyber Monday shoppers will be looking most intensely for deals in the early morning, late morning and early evening. In the early morning, almost half of shoppers aged 18 to 34 will be shopping, versus one third of shoppers aged 55 and older. During the late morning, however, all age groups will be shopping online at much the same level.
• A small (4%) emerging group will shop Cyber Monday via their mobile device (e.g. an iPhone or Blackberry). Within this group, almost twice as many men than women will shop via mobile device, and, predictably, more of these will be younger (18-34) vs. older shoppers.

So, what else can we expect from consumers with Internet access at work this holiday season? In an early November survey conducted by BIGresearch for Shop.org, almost half of this group said they either already had or expected to use Internet access at work to browse or shop for gifts online. For 18 to 34 year olds, that’s more like two-thirds, and is closer to a third of those aged 55 to 64. Overall, however, the total number of people who said they expected to shop online from work for holiday gifts this year is down slightly from last year – 68.8 million this year vs. 72.8 million last year.

As always , please let me know your comments. In the meantime, may this be a very happy Cyber Monday for you!

As the group widely credited for coining the phrase “Cyber Monday,” we’re always looking for ways to raise the profile of this important kick-off to the online holiday shopping season, trying to think outside the box for ways to bring shoppers online after the Black Friday weekend left them wanting more. In 2008, an estimated 85 million people shopped on Cyber Monday, and many retailers are looking to the Monday after Thanksgiving to bring another sales surge this year. For information about what Cyber Monday is (and what it isn’t), view these FAQs.

Shop.org offers several ways for retailers to maximize their Cyber Monday efforts, both ahead of time and on the all-important November 30. Here’s a rundown of what we’re working on this year:

CyberMonday.com: After a 42-second shout-out on Good Morning America this week (but, really, who’s counting?), Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com is moving full speed ahead for the holiday season. Last year, the site was named the #1 place to shop on Cyber Monday by Time magazine and has been featured on the Today Show, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and thousands of other places.

According to Mall Networks, which powers the site for us, shoppers spent more than $12 million through CyberMonday.com last holiday season and more than $23 million since the site was launched in November 2006. The site had 2.4 million unique visitors on Cyber Monday alone last year, up from 1.5 million on Cyber Monday 2007.

One quick side note: We’re excited that CyberMonday.com has become a major holiday shopping destination, but we’re particularly proud that all of our proceeds from the site go directly to the Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund. Since launching in 2007, CyberMonday.com has brought in more than $900,000 for the Fund, which provides financial assistance to students pursuing careers in retail and e-commerce. Ray was a good guy, and we all miss him, so it’s gratifying to be able to channel our passion for Cyber Monday into something that helps our community remember Ray.

If you’re not one of the 658 retailers that is currently listed on CyberMonday.com, there are still opportunities available to participate on the site this year. In order to be listed on the site by Cyber Monday, your company must have an affiliate program with Linkshare, Commission Junction or the Google Affiliate Network and sign up by November 13. (A bonus: if you sign up by Oct. 31, we’ll waive the $3,000 integration fee, which includes site placement, a listing in two categories and a logo along with a description of your company.) To learn more about how you can get your site listed on CyberMonday.com, email Marc Mazzone at Mall Networks.

If you already are one of the retailers listed on CyberMonday.com, there are still ways to make your company more visible on the site. Among them:

• Mall Networks tells me that the home page is almost sold out, but there are two spots open (that’s an opportunity only for current Shop.org members).
• There is still space available on shopping category pages for banners and logos.
• After a hugely-popular experiment last year, CyberMonday.com will feature a “Deal of the Hour” for Cyber Monday and — new this year — Black Friday. There are still some opportunities available for companies who wish to provide exclusive discounts or offers on the site.
• There are a handful of spots remaining for the “Top 5 Deals” placement on the home page

Marc is also the one to contact about these opportunities. (Something tells me after this post, he’s going to be a busy guy!)

Media opportunities: If you want your company to get in the news this holiday season, and you’re a Shop.org or NRF member, we can most definitely help. In the past, we’ve heard from retailers who are open to discussing their Cyber Monday plans with the media. This year, we’re ramping up that partnership to help our members get the most out of their Cyber Monday news while also helping the reporters we regularly work with gather in-depth information from reliable sources for their stories.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more details about providing your company’s Cyber Monday promotions to reporters in advance and/or if you have a company executive or spokesperson who can talk with the media on the record about what your company is planning for Cyber Monday this year. I’m also the person to contact if you would like us to provide a holiday-related quote for your company’s press release, if you want to use any of our Cyber Monday research, or if you’d like to refer a reporter you’re already working with to us to round out a story.

Something tells me it’s going to be an insanely-busy few months for all of us. While many of us at NRF and Shop.org finalize our Cyber Monday plans, we wait anxiously to learn what all of you have in store for this year!

While 2008 is certainly very different from recent years, all is not entirely gloomy.  The 91 retailers who responded to this anonymous survey generously gave us insight into an industry that is doing many things to engage customers and encourage sales — thanks to those efforts, it appears almost half are experiencing growth compared to last year. We hope you find the survey results helpful as we enter the final weeks of the holiday shopping season.

**Please note — to keep the comparison between Nov ’08 and Nov ’07 more “apples to apples”, we asked retailers to include Dec 1 in their total November 2008 numbers, as Cyber Monday last year fell in late November.

UPDATE: Forrester Research analyst and State of Retailing Online author Sucharita Mulpuru offers a point of view on the online holiday season that includes data from this study.

-Josh Greene

Rimm-Kaufman Group Blog, Online Retail Stats: CyberMonday 2008 vs. 2007

Search Engine Land, Online Holiday Shopping Stats and Most Searched Gifts

Scot Wingo post in Seeking Alpha, Amazon and eBay Off to a Good Start This Season