Analysts anticipate sales from Cyber Monday to reach $2 billion, marking the first time it has occurred dating back to when comScore began to keep tallies of such data The Chicago Tribune reported.
"All of them are behind Amazon, but some are starting to catch up," Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough told The Tribune. Online sales were on the rise 21.4 percent as the clock struck noon.
"The earlier offering of deals online may weigh on Cyber Monday and, interestingly, some retailers are offering a worse deal on Cyber Monday than they had over the earlier period," Nomura analyst Simeon Siegel told The Tribune.
Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Macy's, J.C. Penney, and Best Buy began their promotions sooner than in previous years.
Wal-Mart for instance offered the LeapPad 2 for $39.99 instead of its usual price of $79, a little tikes cozy coupe for $34.99 instead of $49.87, a nerf rebelle crossbow for $19.88 instead of $11.99. a monopoly board game for $5 instead of $7.77, and a hot wheels single car for .60 cents rather than the normal .97 cents, the LG 50-inch HDTV for $448, down from its original $598, skylanders and infinity starter packs which was $74.96 for $37, and certain PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Video Games. These also included Call of Duty: Ghosts, NBA 2K14 and Battlefield 4, originally $59.96, and marked down to $49.
Other companies in the United States also provided their better discounts before Thanksgiving in order to keep up with other stores, and maintain strides with Amazon.
Sales before Thanksgiving increased 14.5 percent this year compared to 2012's data. Consumers exhausted three percent of their funds over the Thanksgiving break, compared to last year's numbers according to National Retail Federation data The Tribune reported.
Sales increased 17.3 percent on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, surpassing numbers at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target.
