Nextag Predicts Thanksgiving Day Will Take a Bite Out of Black Friday

SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Nextag, (Nextag.com), a leading comparison shopping website for products and services predicts online sales will spike on Thanksgiving Day, as shoppers weary of the aggravation and competition for limited Black Friday "door buster" deals bypass the mall in favor of the ease and convenience of online shopping.  Nextag points to this longer "Cyber Weekend" as evidence of an extended online shopping season, which will be marked by cautious consumers conducting more research prior to making their final holiday purchases.

Nextag's research validates trends from the NPD Group's ninth annual survey of consumers' holiday spending intentions, forecasting a more thoughtful approach to holiday shopping in 2010.  According to the survey's findings, 62 percent of consumers plan to do some kind of "homework" prior to making their purchases; 44 percent say they will comparison shop before buying a gift; and 33 percent say they will compare prices online before they shop in a store.

"All of our search and traffic patterns lead us to believe that the concept of Cyber Monday is outdated," said Jeffrey G. Katz, Chief Executive Officer of Nextag.  "We expect that consumers will go online as early as Thanksgiving Day to research, compare products, get advice, monitor price changes, and share information with friends and family.  That's why we have added new features such as product reviews and coupons to our site.  We will continue to evolve our site to make sure we provide a fun and rewarding shopping experience, giving holiday shoppers the tools they need to find exactly what they're looking for."

According to comScore, last year, $318 million was spent online on Thanksgiving, an increase of more than 10 percent from the year before.  Analysts said they expect the numbers to be even greater this year as in-store retail sales have only increased about 1.5 to 2.5 percent this year, in stark contrast to the growth of e-commerce which is on pace to increase by 11 percent for early November alone, according to data from MasterCard.

About Nextag

Nextag is the ultimate resource for online shoppers, offering a fun, reliable and expansive browsing experience for everything from toys to travel plans. Our best-in-class search technology and proven expertise ensure that all of our 30 million+ monthly customers find the products, prices and information they need, when and where they need them.  Nextag operates comparison shopping sites in the US (Nextag.com), the UK (Nextag.co.uk), France (Nextag.fr), Germany (Nextag.de), Spain (Nextag.es), Italy (Nextag.it), Australia (Nextag.com.au) and Japan (Nextag.co.jp).  Nextag is headquartered in San Mateo, California with offices in London, Tokyo and Gurgaon, India.

For further information on Nextag, or for executive commentary and inclusion in holiday e-commerce stories, please contact Joshua Weinberg at 415-777-3339 or [email protected]

SOURCE Nextag