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Cyber Monday Is The New Black Friday - Online Retailers Expect An Onslaught Of Holiday Shoppers

by Brett Larson
WCBS-TV
New York
Nov 28th 2005

(CBS) NEW YORK In the past, retailers prepared for their biggest holiday crowds on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Now, online retailers must ready their sites for the Monday after Thanksgiving in what is being touted as “Cyber Monday” -- the day many of us will hit the Internet to start our Holiday shopping. Below find some tips to keep your holidays bright.

To add to the flood of cyber-shoppers, sites are rolling out the specials: reduced prices, freebies and the biggest bonus, free shipping.

Outside of not having to lift a finger to shop, getting it done online has another benefit: You can compare prices without having to drive around town going from store to store. Sites like Sort Price and Price Grabber will let you search dozens of places at once. Even the popular search engine Google has a price-searching feature, Froogle, which as the name might suggest, will search for lower prices.

An added benefit to all the price-search sites, users can give ratings of the online merchants. This is handy information, as some online retailers are less reliable, or have shipping and return policies that can make all the freebies costly. Picking a reputable online retailer can ensure you have a happy holiday, and actually get what you ordered.

Beyond good deals, you should also look out for fraud.

Be suspicious of any e-mail you get that makes claims about your order being mishandled, credit card information not working or anything that would require you to give them more personal information about yourself. If your credit card didn’t work, your order wouldn’t have gone through. The same would be true if something you ordered isn’t available.

Also, ensure you have a secure connection when you’re inputting your shipping and credit card information. One-way to know, the address will be “https:” the “s” indicating secure. Some Web browsers also have a lock icon to indicate a truly secure connection. And when shopping online, you should always use your credit card -- fraud protection features included on credit cards can come in handy should anything go wrong. You may also want to see if your credit card company offers virtual credit card numbers. These one-time use numbers are perfect for online transactions -- they work once, and can’t ever be used again. Should that one-time number fall into the wrong hands, it won’t do them any good.

Buyer Beware: If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If the hottest toy of the season can be yours “For just a DOLLAR!” don’t fall for it. And if you’re doing any holiday shopping on auction sites, like eBay, be certain you read through the seller’s rating and respond accordingly -- obviously, someone who has never sold on eBay before but who has this years hottest toy, may not actually have anything to sell.

Finally, check for a return policy. Whether it’s broken, unwanted or in anyway needs to be returned, you want that process to be as simple as possible. Online retailers who also have brick and mortar stores will often let you return what you buy to their stores.

Overall, a little common sense on the Internet can save you a lot of time. If you don’t feel comfortable with something, don’t feel you must do it. And if you ever get stuck, look for a phone number and call the site.

http://wcbstv.com/technology/local_story_332123948.html

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