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More shoppers turn to online retailers, Amazon leads market

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On November 30, 2009, 7:30 PM EST

The convenience of online shopping is drawing more customers away from traditional stores, with an 11% increase in online Black Friday spending this year. That figure is ahead of the market as a whole, which rose 3%. Amazon leads the pack in those online sales, gaining 28% year-over-year.

ComScore cited increased reliance on social networking and "creative promotions" as some reasons for the growth -- and the firm doesn't believe it will stop, either. Cyber Monday also saw large increases over last year, and comScore says things look encouraging for online retailers. Companies that have both a retail and online presence did well, with Walmart, Target and Best Buy all gaining.

If consumers continue to opt for Web-based shopping, will we see the end of midnight or early morning sales at brick-and-mortar stores?

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User Comments (37)

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PUTALE
on December 1, 2009
12:08 PM

the reason that so many people turn to internet is because of cheaper price and ease of shopping and amazon's awesome free shipping. I often do price comparison online and can find much cheaper price online than at retail store.

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ryan29121
on December 1, 2009
12:48 PM

IvanAwfulitch said:

On the one hand, Amazon is pretty awesome. But on the other hand, this says something about how lazy we are getting as a nation now. We don't even bother getting up to go and LOOK at the darn thing we're buying anymore. We just stare at a picture and think "ok I want that *click* ". People even do their grocery shopping online in some cases. We're really getting hooked on the Internet now.

Well if you know what your buying, the price is cheaper even with shipping, then why not? You don't have to drive anywhere and you are saving money. I do 90% of my shopping online, just not groceries.

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ken777
on December 1, 2009
12:57 PM

It's hard to beat the convenience and pricing of online shopping (especially if you can avoid sales tax too), but it's not going to eliminate the brick-and-mortar black friday promos. As long as prices are close enough there will always be people who prefer the immediate gratification of picking up an item in a store. Plus for some people, waging in hand-to-hand combat with other shoppers is part of the fun.

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wcbert
on December 1, 2009
1:24 PM

The only thing now I buy in the store is cloths as I like to try them on first to see how they look. Everything else I buy online. The best part is I do not have to deal with rude, lazy or sales people that do not have a clue of what they are selling.

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claycc
on December 1, 2009
1:24 PM

I did (almost) all of my Thanksgiving shopping online. It just isn't worth it to me to go push my way through hordes of people to save a couple of bucks.

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Aolish
on December 1, 2009
3:06 PM

there's definitely been an increase in ppl buying online.. thats for sure. Newegg on Black Friday was virtually unusable... I actually had to wait the next day to try and surf normally.

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claycc
on December 1, 2009
3:21 PM

I didn't try to order anything off Newegg but I did place an order on Tiger Direct and it went through fine.

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TechDisciple
on December 2, 2009
1:42 AM

Well, i love shopping online for the following reasons.>1.Convenience 2.comparing prices 3.cheaper 4.Sometimes free shipping 5.no long lines 6.no driving>>keeps u accident safe and way more fun .

Reply

Fada
on December 2, 2009
7:00 AM

I cant even remember the last time i bought anything substantial on the high street!

Reply

slh28
on December 2, 2009
7:40 AM

The main reason why I find online shopping so much better is because you can read all the expert and user reviews before making up your own mind... compared to the good old days you would go into a store, look at the blurb on the box and listen to the salesperson who would be encouraging you to buy a product which they have an oversupply of.

Also of course there's all the price comparison sites which save you a lot of time and money compared to driving around to different high street stores and looking for the best deal.

Reply

DarkCobra
on December 2, 2009
11:07 AM

I don't think shopping on-line is indicative of "laziness" at all! As so many others have already indicated there are better deals on-line (even factoring in shipping). You don't have to stand in long lines with people acting like animals to purchase or argue with some rude counter person if returning something.

Sadly, some of the brick and mortar electronic box chains (Good Guys, Circuit City, etc.) have vanished because of their own corporate greed, lack of adequate product supply or just plain bad on the floor service (yes, there were many great floor people as well). If those local shops want to compete then I say "get better" and don't whine. There are advantages to buying local and smart shops are finding new ways to do so, but the old methods no longer work. Circuit City found that out too late. Amazon, New Egg and others are doing an incredible job and local shops can compete if they get innovative.

We should keep in mind that this is not an "either/or" situation. We have the luxury of BOTH options at any time. On-line shopping merely provides us all with another option which is always good. If you think those stores and parking lots are jammed now can you imagine on-line shopping ending? Calling it lazy is ridiculous as you could easily make the claim that the use of a computer for a host of things is being "lazy".

Reply

buttus
on December 3, 2009
7:59 AM

I still don't trust online for my large purchases and prefer to go to the store. Maybe that makes me old fashioned...but shopping online just doesn't "feel" like shopping at all.

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