In Lieu of Cyber Monday, Retailers Gearing Up For 'Cyber Month'

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This year, there are six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than there were last year, and retailers are already agonizing over how to get people to shop more with less time. For online shops, this means extending the reach of Cyber Monday.

Said the CEO of a fulfillment company that works with Zara and Gilt: "What's happening now — we call it Cyber Week. It starts around Thanksgiving and goes for a week following. It's spreading, it's evening out and we see a big spike in shopping that week. It's still a little bit concentrated on Monday, but every year it's spreading out more." Expect to see online promos drop early—as early as in-store Black Friday sales—and incentives to continue to pop up all December.

The CEO of shopping startup Fancy told WWD that he'd like to see Cyber Monday extend into Cyber Month. "We're hoping we can turn the entire holiday season into one very long Cyber Monday, hopefully without the discounts," he said. Wal-Mart, for one, doesn't want to wait that long. They rolled out a few Black Friday deals online on Friday night—almost a full month ahead of time.
· Cyber Monday: Not Just One Day [WWD, sub req]
· Top 8 Cyber Monday Best Sellers (Hint: The Ugg Reign Continues) [Racked]