Nov. 29--Concerns about the H1N1 virus and being around infected individuals may have kept some shoppers home on Black Friday.

But for anyone who missed out, there's always safe, at-home shopping on Cyber Monday.

Always the Monday after Black Friday, Cyber Monday is considered the unofficial start of the Christmas online shopping season.

Theresa D. Williams, director of the Center for Education and Research in Retailing at Indiana University's Kelly School of Business, said in-store crowds may be smaller this holiday shopping season in part because of an early flu season and the H1N1 virus.

Plus, people who have been sick and lost time at work, which can affect take-home pay, could have less money to spend, whether it be in stores or online.

"It's certainly going to have an impact on discretionary spending if you are paid hourly," said Williams, adding her center projects November-December retail sales to total $437 billion.

Beyond avoiding illnesses, beating the huge crowds and long lines, and in some cases, not having to pay sales taxes are among the other reasons shoppers flock to the online stores on Cyber Monday.

The term was first used in the e-commerce community in 2005 and is sponsored by the National Retail Federation's Shop.org division. According to the NRF, in 2005, 77 percent of online retailers had significant sale increases the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Online holiday purchases have increased steadily since 2004, and excluding travel, ComScore Networks, an e-commerce tracking firm, predicts online spending will exceed $486 million this season.

However, there are some pitfalls to cyber shopping.

McAfee is a California business and is considered the world's largest Cyber security technology company. The company said during the holidays, thieves can create fraudulent holiday-based Web sites and other scams to steal people's money when they shop online.

Furthermore, with identify-theft issues, according to Consumer Reports, using everything from pseudo social networking friend requests to charity phishing, cyber criminals have stolen $8 billion from consumers in the past two years.

"We stay on the Web," said Juanita Winston, who was recently shopping with a friend at the Markland Avenue Wal-Mart. "We shop on stores on cable and online to get the best deals. You need every bargain you can get."

And there are online bargains available.

Michael Santo of the North Carolina-based HULIQ.com, predicts this Cyber Monday may be the biggest of all time and online bargains vary from one store expecting to give 75 percent off certain televisions to stores offering free shipping for purchases.

The Christmas-shopping season is a make-or-break time for some retailers, yet online purchases may not be enough to save stores if people are bypassing the brick-and-mortar ones and spending their money and time on their PC.

"There is a growing interest in Cyber Monday," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. "But if people cannot find an item in the store, you can't make up for that online. Items have to be in the store."

--K.O. Jackson is the Kokomo Tribune's business writer. He can be reached at 765-854-6739 or via e-mail kirven.jackson@kokomotribune.com

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