Dive Brief:

• Some 122 million Americans plan to shop online this Cyber Monday, up from the 121 million who shopped on the day a year ago, according to a survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics over the weekend, the National Retail Federation reports.

• More than 28 million of those shoppers plan to use their phones, down slightly from last year’s 29.6 million, the survey found. Most will be on the computer: 98.6 million people will shop from their home desktops, while 11.2 million will shop from computers at work.

• Cyber Monday follows on the heels of online sales of $5.27 billion over Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, up 17.7% year-over-year, according to Adobe Digital Insights. Black Friday alone contributed a record $3.34 billion in digital sales, increasing 21.3% from a year ago.

Dive Insight:

Despite surging online retail traffic over Thanksgiving weekend, many shoppers may be waiting until Cyber Monday or even beyond to get their shopping done, according to research from omnichannel analytics firm InfoScout emailed to Retail Dive.

Many more people skipped Black Friday this year, not so much to avoid the infamous crowded stores and long lines (and sometimes violent chaos, last year’s top reason for shunning the day), but because they’re still saving up, according to InfoScout. More than a quarter (26%) of people surveyed said they weren’t “financially ready” to shop yet and 39% of those respondents said they plan to postpone shopping till the first two weeks of December.

Many of the holiday shoppers heading to stores (or, even more likely this year than last, websites) over the Thanksgiving weekend were motivated by deals, which appears to have put a crimp in sales numbers. Average spending per person over Thanksgiving weekend totaled $289.19, down slightly from $299.60 last year (those numbers aren’t exactly comparable because the NRF changed its methodology, the group said in a press release).

But the NRF survey also bolsters InfoScout’s findings, as it also found that just 9% of consumers have finished their holiday shopping, down from 11% at this point last year. And 23% have yet to begin holiday shopping at this point, up from 19% last year, according to the NRF.

“With mid-season shopping behind us, it’s not too late for retailers to tweak their online and in-store strategies to help increase traffic and see a big payoff during the last few weeks of the holiday season,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.

On Cyber Monday, early morning remains the busiest time for online shopping — 38.9% of those shopping that day will shop first thing in the morning, 33.9% will shop late in the morning, 16% will shop over lunch and 31% will shop in the early afternoon. 

While online sales are morphing Black Friday into more of a cyber-themed event, it’s the promotions and deals that will have consumers paying attention on Cyber Monday, according to Prosper’s principal analyst Pam Goodfellow.

“Shopping online is more convenient than ever before — while traveling, emailing or relaxing at home, we’re seeing consumers of all ages researching and shopping for online deals,” Goodfellow said in a statement. “Cyber Monday deals have become something that smart shoppers rely on, and this year is no different. Consumers wake up early ready to shop at their favorite retailers for the items they’ve had their eye on all season.”

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2016 holiday shopping season. You can browse our holiday page for more stories.