Black Friday Online Retailers Ramp Up The Deals

NEW YORK — Online retailers are ramping up heavy-duty deals to turn skittish shoppers into buyers during the crucial Thanksgiving weekend and "Cyber Monday" _ but even so, online sales are expected to be fairly flat after years of strong growth.

Free shipping is virtually a given, and many are offering financing options such as no payments for 90 days and deals like $10 off purchases of $50 or more, along with traditional discounts on products.

"Last year, people were spending a lot more money on gifts and products," says Jeff Wisot, vice president of marketing for online retailer Buy.com. "With the economic challenges arising this year, people are definitely spending less."

"Cyber Monday," a term coined by the trade group National Retail Federation in 2005 to describe the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, is the unofficial kickoff for the busy online retail season.

However, this year, consumer spending has dropped dramatically _ down 1 percent in October, the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks _ as consumers grapple with a shaky economy, mounting job losses and a prolonged housing slump.

During the holidays, the trade group expects overall holiday spending will total about $470.4 billion, a 2.2 percent rise from a year ago and the slowest growth since 2002, and online retail is being hit along with brick-and-mortar stores. ComScore, a digital technology monitoring company, said Tuesday it expects online retail spending for November and December to be flat compared with the same two months in 2007. Last year's growth rate was 19 percent.

The expected slowdown in online growth is "dramatically different than what we've seen," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group. "Consumers are not in a rush to shop."

In an effort to entice them, online retailers are offering a bounty of deals.

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Wisot of Buy.com says his site is offering free shipping on most items, instant rebates and deals on TVs, GPS devices and other items.

Online jeweler BlueNile.com sent out a targeted e-mail promotion offering $100 off a $500 engagement ring, valid until Tuesday. And through Bill Me Later, an online payment site eBay.com is acquiring, BlueNile.com is offering 0 percent financing on purchases of $500 or more for six months. Bill Me Later has similar promotions for other online retailers.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com will take up to 65 percent off watches and offer one-day deals such as knife set that is usually $157 on sale for $49.99.

"We're bringing prices down as low as we can get them," Berman says. "These are great deals."

Online auction site eBay.com is holding what it calls the largest sale in its history, with $1 holiday doorbuster items hidden on the site that consumers hunt for, including a 65-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV and a 2009 Chevy Corvette. EBay also will offer items typically in demand for the holidays for bids starting at $1.

Toys "R" Us is offering more online promotions on Cyber Monday than last year, including 70 percent off Star Wars figures, $50 off the normally $59.99 Guitar Hero wired guitar controller from Activision and other deals.

And PayPal, another online payment site that eBay owns, is partnering with several retailers on deals. At Toys "R" Us, customers get $10 off purchases of $50 or more. Elsewhere, customers using PayPal can receive cash-back incentives ranging from 5 percent to 30 percent off at retailers including American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Overstock.com and Blockbuster.

Whether all the deals, rebates and discounting offers will help remains to be seen, says Dr. Michael Belch, a professor of marketing at San Diego State University.

"There's little doubt the consumer is still going to be very price sensitive," he says. "They're going to be looking for values."

Comments

[curiousasheck]

Me thinks Big Retail will be lining up at Paulsons "Taxpayer Feeding Trough" early next year.

[thehollywoodmom]

The best deal on Black Friday is to BUY NOTHING. It's better for the planet AND for the economy - yes, that's right. It will be better for our economy if we stop shopping to start saving and living more simply!

[TheHandyman]

I quit going to these sales when I got up at 4:30 to be at a 5 am opening to find that the store only had 1 of the items I went there to buy and it had been sold. So screw these manipulative a$$es. In fact, I never bought anything from that store again.

[gemiwing]

We don't have kids, we already own an iPod, we know how to read a map and we don't need another tv. Most of the deals aren't on things we're going to buy anyway so we're sitting this black friday out.

Maybe next year.

[kozy]

I, for one, am not buying ANYTHING this Christmas. Nothing -- Zero. While I have nothing against buying lots of unneeded and useless stuff, I simply decided it was a dumb and un-Christian idea. Maybe it had to do with O'Reilly's paranoia last year about Christmas being cancelled. Or, maybe its because the far right rants, supposedly based on religion, made me read a lot more about Christianity to find out where they get their weird "Christian" obsession with sex and gender, and buying lots of Christmas junk. I found where they get it. Selective, narrow, views of certain Christian themes, mixed with political exploitation of many people, equals VOTES for the GOP!! And, maybe lots of buying of junk from the stores!! But, I believe I will follow more or less legitimate religious themes of giving, abstaining from deception, being nice to people, being humble, forgiveness, helping others, and normal stuff like that for Christmas.

[bluguy8]

what I find interesting is these sales are on this that the stores never should have bought to begin with--its crap . the stuff that is nice is not on sale or its 10% off--thats no sale. The stores have to get rid of this stuff before xmas--its not gold and doesn't get better with age . mark it down already --so people do want to buy it.

[gemiwing]

I agree. we were looking at a new computer- but we're media freaks so the ones on sale are pretty much less than we need. The ones we do want? 15% off, and only if you show up at the store. Bleh.