Business

Like Grandparents Day, Cyber Monday is an event created by the retail industry.

Still, on the first Monday of the holiday season, why not shop online during work breaks?

Shop.org, an Internet retail trade group, coined the term Cyber Monday in 2005 after noticing that Web traffic to retail sites went up the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Shop.org commissioned research that shows about 84 percent of online retailers will have special promotions today, up from about 72 percent a year ago.

The group also says 55.8 percent of workers with Internet access - 72.8 million people - will shop at their desks sometime during the holiday season.

Traffic to Web sites may be up, but analysts are not as optimistic about sales.

"We expect to see higher traffic to retailers on Cyber Monday than in years past, but the year-over-year growth rates will be lower based upon the economic conditions," said Heather Dougherty, research director for Hitwise, a company that tracks Web traffic.