After the hectic shopping in stores during the holiday weekend, many people will go online today. Madison retail analyst Doug Johnson says the start of Cyber Monday represents a growing trend in sales, with that sector expected to see sales increase 15-percent over last year. He says it’s a “huge, growing market.”
Johnson says many shoppers turn to the Internet as a way to avoid the crowds or to find deals on products they may have looked at in stores.
He says analysts first noticed the trend a few years ago when people started hitting up online vendors after the holiday weekend wrapped up.
However, Johnson wonders if it’s something lawmakers may take a look at when working on ways to address the state’s budget deficit. Many online purchases don’t require shoppers to pay a sales tax, which means states could be missing out on a large amount of revenue. Only a handful of states tax online purchases.