New York shoppers head online to score best Cyber Monday deals

After fighting off midnight crowds, long lines and doorbusters, city shoppers will be flocking to cyberspace Monday to check off their Christmas wish lists, retail experts say.

Gotham's deal hunters say they cannot say no to the Cyber Monday discounts on a wide variety of items, especially the electronics.

New Yorkers who prefer to shop on cyberspace say the savings aren't the only advantage to avoiding the Black Friday chaos.

"It's way easier to shop from the comfort of my home than wait on a long line," said Adam Ferrari, 25, of Astoria.

Now, armed with mobile devices, shoppers are no longer glued to their office desktop, waiting for their boss to leave the room to purchase that new camera off Amazon.

Purchases from smartphones accounted for 16.3 percent of online sales on Black Friday, up from 9.8 percent in 2011 and 3.2 percent in 2010, according to IBM data. iPads and iPhones led the charge, with owners using the devices to browse and buy on retailer websites.

Consumers will be looking for deals on those mobile devices and other electronics as retailers aim to offer deals on the new tech such as the iPad mini and Wii U.

The average order value on Black Friday declined by 4.7 percent to $181.22, and the average number of items per order dropped 12 percent to 5.6, according to IBM Smarter Commerce, a unit of International Business Machines Corp that analyzes transactions from 500 U.S. retailers.

Some customers said it really didn't depend on what day of they shopped online, because retailers are already putting out some deals and the bargains are just keep coming.

Elissa Levine, 56, a nurse from Astoria, said she shops a lot online and enjoys when stores offer free shipping, no tax or free gift-wrapping.

"If I do shop, it will be online but it won't be tomorrow," she said.

Retail experts see this trend to continue as more and more consumers become more tech savvy and trusting of online shopping.

"The online players are definitely participating more on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so Cyber Monday is being shared with other holidays now," said Scot Wingo, chief executive ChannelAdvisor.

Despite the growing ease of digital shopping, some New Yorkers say they enjoy the experience of heading to their nearest mall and taking in the sights and sounds of Christmas.

"There is just something about going out and shopping that you can't get with Amazon," Karli Cadel, 26, of Tudor City said.

(with Reuters)