Cyber Monday

The biggest holiday shopping weekend started Friday with "Black Friday," but doesn't end until "Cyber Monday," a day when 43 percent of online retailers plan to offer special promotions and discounts, according to a recent Shop.org survey conducted by BIGresearch.

"On Cyber Monday, consumers set their sights on surfing for holiday gifts and shopping online," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org said in the report. "This year, online retailers will be capitalizing on the increased traffic by offering special promotions and discounts."

Seventy-seven percent of online retailers said their sales increased dramatically on the Monday after Thanksgiving last year.

All of the companies surveyed expect to see online sales increase from 2004 numbers.

The report says experts attribute the increase in web traffic to faster and more secure Internet connections and shoppers not able to complete all their shopping over Thanksgiving weekend.

The National Retail Federation also reports 37 percent or 51.7 million people will use the Internet at work to buy gifts online.

-- Aurora Meyer