Cyber Monday is new kid in shopping world

As we discussed last week, Black Friday is a well-established retail tradition. Anyone who fancies themselves as a pro or semi-pro shopper knows about Black Friday and what a big deal it is.
Not as many people, however, are familiar with Cyber Monday. The new kid on the block in the shopping world, Cyber Monday is fast becoming a holiday shopping staple. Some bargain-hunters will even skip the Black Friday madness, opting instead to curl up on the couch with their laptops and surf the Web sites of their favorite retail stores.
This has caused some in the shopping world to ask if Cyber Monday will replace Black Friday as the pre-eminent shopping day of the year.
The short answer: No. For unbelievable prices on big ticket items or mind-blowing savings, retailers are still going to pour most of their effort (and marketing dollars) into their Black Friday push.
But more and more stores are taking note of the success of past Cyber Mondays.
At DealTaker, we've definitely seen an increase in the number of stores participating in such sales. At the time of this writing there are more than 120 stores that have chosen to target Monday as a moneymaker as they try to extend Black Friday profits into December.
So, what kind of savings are you likely to find? There are a few answers to that question. The savings are certainly extensive, though inventory can be limited. Here are a few ways you can take advantage of this.
First, much of the Cyber Monday savings come viastorewide coupons. You can get anywhere from 20 to 50 percent off storewide among the coupons we've seen thus far. Most retailers also offer free shipping for that day. These coupons can be helpful for that one item you've wanted but haven't been able to pull the trigger on. Now you can. Just make sure you do some comparison shopping first.
Secondly, electronics Web sites supply particularly hefty savings. Understandably, these tech type stores were among the first to hop on the Cyber Monday bandwagon and they are, therefore, ahead of the curve when it comes to using this day to release some of their biggest items.
Will you find laptop computers for pennies or LCD TVs for pocket change? Probably not. But if you want recordable CD-R's, flash drives, video games or computer parts then you stand a good chance of finding what you want on Cyber Monday.
Finally, while it is still less common for there to be long lists of items for sale as there are in Black Friday ads, more and more stores are putting out full-fledged ads on Cyber Monday.
Sears, Kmart and The Great Indoors are among the stores that have put out Cyber Monday ads. Bargain-hunters are encouraged by this trend and hope it continues.
So, is Cyber Monday going to replace Black Friday? Not anytime soon. But people are spending more money and time online these days, using the resources that the Internet provides to make sure they are finding the best deal possible. This certainly leads this deal shopper to be optimistic about the prospects of an online-only national shopping holiday.
Dylan Biles is a moderator and bargain-hunter for DealTaker.com, and online shopping Web site. E-mail him at Dylan@dealtaker.com