On Cyber Monday, the online retail world’s version of Black Friday, what do you think?
Early morning online traffic trends already indicated a sharp spike in the North America region, said Jennifer Donovan, spokeswoman for online business solutions provider Akamai. The Cambridge, Mass. -based company Monday launched the Akamai Net Usage Index for retail, which monitors aggregate Web traffic to over 100 U.S.-based online sellers, including etoys.com, Overstock.com, jcpenney.com and Circuitcity.com. According to the index, total North American traffic by visitors per minute on Cyber Monday was up 35 percent from normal traffic trends for a Monday, according to Donovan. As of 11:40 a.m. ET, the sites tracked were drawing nearly 1.63 million visitors per minute. “We’re hitting new peaks before the West Coast has even logged on,” Donovan said. “Today’s traffic should peak about 4 p.m. (ET)
Hmm, where are most adult Americans at 4 p.m. Eastern/ 1 p.m. Pacific?
More than one-third of the 1,891 consumers who were also polled for the Shop.org report said they will use Internet access at work where they have faster Internet connections to buy their gifts this holiday season.
Still more evidence that there’s a difference between being at work and working. Article here. More evidence of office slacking here. Some interested e-commerce factoids here:
More than one in six Americans who go online have sold something, or tried to, most of them using Internet classified and auction sites, a new poll said Monday. The Pew Internet & American Life Project’s phone survey found that 17 percent of Internet-using adults have sold goods or services online, with about 2 percent selling something on any given day. … EBay and Craigslist are examples of the two most popular online methods Americans use to turn stuff into cash, said Lenhart: auction and classified advertisement sites. “Twenty-four percent, or 35 million, have participated in an online auction, either buying or selling,” said Lenhart. About 32 million, or 22 percent, have used online classifieds to sell things or for other activities, such as apartment hunting. “People are comfortable [with these sites].”
Since non-work trips are the fastest growing type of trip, e-commerce has some congestion-relief potential too.