Record sales continue on Cyber Monday

On Cyber Monday, retailers appeared to sustain the momentum of a record-setting Black Friday weekend.

Online sales early Monday afternoon were up 20 percent compared with last year's Cyber Monday -- an online holiday shopping event created by the National Retail Federation -- according to IBM Benchmark. Online revenue at department stores was up 39 percent and increased 24 percent at apparel stores, the company said.

Workers at Fulfillment Plus Inc., a Holtsville company that warehouses and ships goods for e-commerce merchants, came in early to handle the extra work, said Jeffrey Ehrlich, president of the company.

"This Cyber Monday it looks like we're going to ship about 15 percent more than last year, so there's definitely an uptick," Ehrlich said. "I think the purchases are all being driven by promotions."

Retailers vying for limited consumer dollars have offered aggressive promotions beginning early this month and culminating in Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, analysts said.

Black Friday sales rose 6.6 percent from last year to a historic high of $11.4 billion, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago firm that tracks retail foot traffic. Some 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 212 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

"Clearly, every retailer recognizes there's a lot of uncertainty and if you want people to come to the stores, you have to be very aggressive on price," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group, a Port Washington market research firm.

The economy plays a large part of retailer's success during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD. Consumers are suffering from "frugal fatigue" and want to spend, but at the same time they are value-minded and looking for deals, he said.

Long Islanders searching for online deals had mixed results Monday. Benjamin Ratner, a Great Neck sophomore at Ithaca College, bought two iPhone headphones for about $5 each and two USB backup chargers for about $2 each after he was alerted to deals by a friend's Facebook post.

"It's as simple as sending a link, and it's a lot easier than getting to the store and deciding what you want," Ratner said.

Peter Goodermote, 50, from Holtsville was disappointed because he was hoping to buy a GPS watch as a gift. He had bought one for himself in September for about $138. Monday it was $170.99 on Amazon.com.

"I've been getting quite a few emails from buy.com, Eddie Bauer and Amazon," Goodermote said, "and none of them have panned out to be exceptional deals." With AP