• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 2, 2008

Anticipating super deals similar to those found during the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend at brick-and-mortar retail stores, consumers scoured search engines for goods related to "Cyber Monday," according to a Google spokeswoman.

Some of the hot terms included "best Cyber Monday deals," "Cyber Monday 2008 sales," American Express wish list," "American girl," "black Monday," and "cybermonday deals."

They must have found what they were looking for, according to Seattle-based Mercent, an online marketing company that serves the retail industry. The company released preliminary sales percentages from some retailers it supports late in the day. Eric Best, Mercent CEO, said during the first 12 hours of Cyber Monday, consumers spent 27% more this year via the 28 retailers the company serves, compared to 2007.

"Looking at the same retailers and shopping networks, the 4.06% conversion rate to order on Cyber Monday for the entire day in 2007, rose to 5.04% during the first 12 hours of Cyber Monday," Best said.

Mercent works with retailers including REI, 1-800-Flowers, GUESS, RedCats and PetSmart through an advertising network representing more than 70 online shopping destinations such as Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Amazon, eBay, Google Affiliate Network and LinkShare.

Online loyalty marketing service MyPoints concurs. Estimates for online traffic on Cyber Monday came close to doubling from an average day on the site, which lets consumers earn points when they shop that are redeemable for gas cards, airline miles, hotel discounts, or gift cards to nearly 100 stores and restaurants.

The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based company said traffic rose 17% from Cyber Monday in 2007 and unique visitors increased 15% over site traffic last year.

Online traffic typically rises on the Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving, as consumers look for bargains not found in physical retail stores. But some analysts thought traditional brick-and-mortar stores including Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Wal-Mart Stores and Target may have stolen the thunder from online sales.

But the day was not without naysayers. Early on Cyber Monday, Susquehanna Analyst Marianne Wolk estimated about $750 million or mere 2% growth in online sales for the day, compared with the same period last year.

Cyber Monday, a term coined by the trade group National Retail Federation in 2005, unofficially kicks off online shopping. If consumers didn't shop online during work hours on Cyber Monday, they'll do it on another work day. Wolk said the biggest online shopping day will likely come Dec. 15, Green Monday.

Wolk estimates that Green Monday will take 3.2% of holiday sales, as procrastinators and budget shoppers hold out for better deals. It's also typically the last day that consumers can wait and still get free shipping. "Bid pricing for search advertising could actually spike as the quarter comes to a close and retailers look to move unsold inventory," she said. "Retailers could become more aggressive in chasing scarce consumers."

Who's buying online? This year, 29% of the 537 consumers polled by Accenture plan to shop online, of which 21% said they would spend between $251 and $500. The survey suggests that 61% of consumers consider advertisements the primary source to learn about holiday products, followed by word of mouth and retailers' and manufacturers' Web sites, and online search. About 22% of consumers said information from online search ads will contribute to the purchase of products online.

"Overall, we expect click-through rates and purchases to be weak and merchandise heavily discounted or sold at auction, such as eBay," said Soleil-Media Metrics analyst Laura Martin.

The big winners on Thanksgiving and Black Friday were online-only retailers such as Amazon.com. Visits to brick-and-mortar store Web sites declined 16% on Thanksgiving, and 10% on Black Friday compared with the same period a year ago, but visits to online-only retailers rose 11% on Thanksgiving, and 10% on Black Friday, according to Hitwise.

Nielsen Online suggests that deals and discounts provide consumers incentives to shop online. The research firm reported Monday Web traffic on the Holiday eShopping Index rose 10% to 31.7 million unique visitors on Black Friday across more than 120 online retailers, compared with the same day in 2007.