cyber monday

Anyone who lined up outside their local Target early one Tuesday morning this past September to score some Missoni -- and witnessed the retail carnage that ensued -- will be well prepared for Black Friday. Target, on the other hand, may not be as ready -- especially when it comes to its website.

Here's the scoop on the holiday shopping season: Fewer people will camp out in front of stores before Black Friday this year in hopes of scoring hot deals on the "it" gifts. Instead, they'll use smart phones and tablets to comparison shop for the best prices, according to Accenture's latest survey.

Target is getting a head start on the biggest online shopping day of the year. The cheap-chic discounter sent out an email blast on Sept. 26 touting "Cyber Monday in September." "Lucky You. These Cyber Monday deals couldn't wait until November. Better hurry," coos Target.com.

Retailers saw their sales figures jump in November with a strong Black Friday and a record-breaking Cyber Monday. The news could suggest this holiday season will be better than the last two, but could also mean that consumers have finished their shopping early.

The popularity of this Cyber Monday has surprised many pundits, myself included. Some estimates showed online buying increased on Cyber Monday by nearly 20% since last year, and the average ticket size grew, too. It wasn't just a single day of explosive growth; spending for the entire holiday...

As more Americans shop online for the holidays, they're falling prey to increasingly sophisticated scams. In response, on Cyber Monday, the Justice Department busted 82 sites for allegedly selling counterfeit and pirated goods, but more crooks are out there.

It looks like online retailers had a good Cyber Monday: Early estimates indicate sales could have surpassed last year's numbers by 12.7% or more. But unlike Black Friday, Cyber Monday rarely has been the most important shopping day of the year for e-tailers.

By all accounts retailers had a banner Black Friday. Lines were long and formed early, doorbusters were big draws and shelves were cleared out at retailers like Target, Walmart and Best Buy. Toys R Us prepared for the biggest Black Friday in its history, Greg Ahern, senior vice president of...

Borders has a few hot Cyber Monday deals going on, including a Borders coupon for 50% off the list price of 100,000 books. Usually, the best Borders coupons are for 33% or 40% off books, so this is an exceptionally high value coupon. No coupon code is needed, but look for the discounted price in...

Nine in 10 retailers are expected to offer online deals today, Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. Those deals are expected to push online sales to $32 billion during the holiday season, up more than 10% from last year. Numbers like these should have retailers salivating,...