First Black Friday became a whole weekend of deals, now it looks like it's Cyber Monday all week.
Several retailers have announced extensions of their Cyber Monday discounts into Tuesday or for the entire week.
Wal-mart Stores may have led the way, when it announced last week that its Web site was planning to mark down prices for a "Cyber Week" of deals.
"The minute they went public with that, they created a shift in the marketing mindset," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market researcher NPD Group.
Cohen said many of the extended sales are "clearly reactive rather than proactive."
"Retailers have realized that if they don't compete, they are not in the game," he said.
In addition to Wal-mart, other retailers that have extended Cyber Monday offers include Toys 'R Us, which will extend its discounts until 1 p.m. on Tuesday; Target , which is planning a week's worth of price cuts, and Sears and Kmart, which will offer Cyber Monday promotions until Thursday.
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Cohen expects the deals to keep coming throughout the rest the shopping season, both online and at the stores. Many of the hardest pushes will come early in the season, he said, adding that he expects many to attempt to create some urgency by pitching the deals as "limited time only," "one day only," or use the "magic" words "door buster."
For example, online jewelry retailer Blue Nile kicked off a "holiday exclusives" promotion on Monday. Each day from now through Dec. 23, a piece of jewelry will be sold on the retailer's Web site for as much as 44 percent off. The items will be revealed at midnight and the sale will last for 24 hours or while supplies last. The items will range in price from $50 pearl cuff bracelets, which had originally sold for $85, to as much as a 28-carat opera diamond necklace marked down to $39,000 (It regularly sells for $65,000), the company said.
Although there have been reports of strong shopper traffic both in stores and online since Thanksgiving, the extended sales may be a sign that sales were not as robust as some retailers were expecting, said Kevin Strawbridge, CEO of the couponing Web site Dealtaker.com.
Strawbridge saw retailers such as J.C. Penney and Buy.com unveil new offers or sweeten existing deals on Monday. Among the late-breaking discounts were boy's fleece pajamas that were marked down to $9.99 from $29.99 at jcp.com, Strawbridge said.
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