If last year is any indication, consumers are more than willing to
sit out the Black Friday madness in favor of comfy couch commerce on
Cyber Monday. comScore reports that Cyber Monday ranked as the heaviest shopping day of the season for the second consecutive year in 2011, with total sales of $1.25 billion.The National Retail Federation asserts that shoppers are taking to the Web in bigger numbers. NRF finds that 26.8 percent will follow retailers’ websites, and 31.4 percent will track emails from retailers in order to get the latest holiday announcements.
“The days of waking up Thanksgiving morning to find out what retailers’ Black Friday promotions will be has transitioned into an ongoing dialogue between companies and their customers starting days in advance,” BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow said in a statement. “Through sites like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, company blogs, emails and mobile apps, consumers can connect with their favorite retailers like never before.”
Marketplace and auction juggernaut eBay is even sweetening the deal by offering customers free services at Bliss Spas just for using their mobile phones to shop and offering mobile-only deals of up to 80% off on Cyber Monday.
With that in mind, here’s a roundup of helpful apps to assist your web window shopping and get the best deals.
Catalog Spree
In its Holiday Shopping Inspiration Survey, popular shopping site CatalogSpree found that 74% of consumers plan to search online in order to gain ideas and inspiration for building out their wish lists and 69% plan to use digital catalogs. The app offers consumers an alternative to in-store holiday shopping through a collection catalogs from major retailers such as Sephora, American Girl, Harry & David, Coldwater Creek and others and updates as new catalogs are released.
TheFind
TheFind.com’s shopping search engine covers every device in your pocket or on your desk. Whether you’re on your laptop, on Facebook, on a tablet or on your phone, you’ll be able to check and compare prices of items sold online and in stores, save product lists, and set price watches. Specifically, TheFind’s Catalogue app brings you over 100 popular print catalogs (think Sundance, J. Crew, Crate & Barrel) to peruse while the smartphone app detects your location and finds the items closest to you and syncs automatically with the website.
PriceBlink
Taking the hassle out of comparison shopping, this app sends alerts if you can purchase the same product on another site for less. PriceBlink also tracks coupon codes, free shipping and other retailers’ deals so when you are browsing a site, you’ll get notifications if any special promotions are available. It also pulls product reviews from a variety of sites, so if the item you want doesn’t have customer feedback on one, you’ll still be able to see what others have to say.
TGI Cyber Monday
If your thumbs start to ache at the thought of all that mobile browsing, try this app which aggregates Cyber Monday deals from major retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon.
Zappos Mobile
No longer just for shoes, the e-commerce giant that’s been called a “miracle” by management strategists has a mobile app that lets you shop for housewares, clothing, and accessories with swipeable images to view products from all sides.
Lookout
If you’re worried about all that browsing and shopping on your phone is putting you at risk of identity or credit card theft or a malware implosion, this app will help you relax. Lookout has a host of new features that keep your precious cargo secure, even on open WiFi. If you misplace your phone, the app will also help you locate it –even if the battery dies before you notice it’s missing. Both free and premium options are available.
www.forbes.com
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