J.Crew & Cyber Monday {a year later...}

The following article from Crain's New York (click here) shares some interesting tidbits, including J.Crew and its technological infrastructure.

Forget Cyber Monday, now it's Cyber Week: E-tailers are expected to offer discounts all week long as customers flock to the Web to shop in greater numbers.
By Adrianne Pasquarelli
November 30, 2009

The keyboard tapping and mouse clicks heard in offices today might be the sounds of online shopping. On Cyber Monday, traditionally the Monday after Thanksgiving, consumers utilize strong workplace Internet connections to shop online. This Monday, more than 96.5 million shoppers are expected to make a purchase, up nearly 14% from last year, according to Shop.org.

“A lot more retailers are offering more aggressive promotions,” said Larry Joseloff, vice president of content at Shop.org. The organization is predicting 87% of retailers will offer Cyber Monday promotions, versus 83% last year. “One trend we're seeing is retailers lifting restrictions for free shipping [like threshold amounts of spending],” added Mr. Joseloff.

Retailers such as Gap, Barnes & Noble, Bloomingdale's and J.C. Penney are all offering Cyber Monday promotions, ranging from 30% discounts to $50 off some purchases. Some retail experts predict the promotions will continue for the rest of the week.

“It's definitely ‘Cyber Week,'” said Sucharita Mulpuru, a retail analyst at Forrester Research. “Now is a good time to go online and get what you need by the holidays.”

With Black Friday treating online retailers well, some are predicting strong sales to continue. In the New York area, eBay had nearly 19,000 buyers and over 15,800 sellers, and predicts stronger results following Cyber Monday. Additionally, consumers spent $595 million online on Friday, an 11% jump over last year, according to tracking firm ComScore.

Even so, questions remain as to whether retailers are prepared for the influx of online shoppers this year. Last year, technical snafus knocked out e-commerce sites for stores such as J.Crew and Bloomingdale's for hours during Cyber Monday as traffic surged.

This year, Web pages at retailers including Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us, Saks and Kohl's are taking over 2.5 seconds to download, according to mobile tracker Gomez. Ms. Mulpuru says even 2 seconds is considered slow for page downloads in the industry. Gomez listed J.Crew's response time for page downloads as a fast 0.799 seconds this year.

Some retailers have signed on for additional Web support. GSI Commerce, which provides e-commerce and marketing services to retailers and also recently purchased members-only shopping site Rue La La, has seen a spike in retail customers, eager to expand their online strategies. GSI currently serves 500 retailers and brands, double its number of customers this time last year, according to executive vice president of strategy Fiona Dias.

“In the last year, we've greatly expanded our service offerings,” Ms. Dias said.

Like many of you, I was not "blown-away" with J.Crew's Cyber Monday promotion of 20% off select sweaters and a code for free shipping on $150+. I thought the 20% off Holiday Sale offer that ended this last Sunday was more enticing. However, J.Crew is one of the few retailers performing {very} well. So I can't begrudge them too much. Instead, I tip my head in acknowledgment of smart management. :)

Lastly, remember those days last year when JCAs (including me!) weren't sure if J.Crew's website would have that dreaded "be back soon..." sign? It's nice to see the website fully functioning again. I have even gotten use to the new search features, including the additional sale categories (from "tops" to "sweaters", "knits & tees", etc.).

What are your thoughts on the article? Thoughts on J.Crew's website (now that it is finally recovered, from the upgrade of last summer)?