Cyber Monday Deals build on Retailers hope to Match Record Breaking Weekend Sales

Following up on what was a record breaking sales weekend for retailers, there is a big push today with Cyber Monday deals online to try to cash in on the in-store sales momentum for the 2011 holiday shopping season.

According to figures released from the National Retail Federation, retail sales over the weekend, starting with Black Friday were up by $12 billion over last year with total retail sales at $52 billion.

Also trending upward were the number of shoppers, both in-store and online. While some 212 million consumers shopped online and in stores during the 2010 season opener, the 2011 holiday season say a boost to a new record of 226 million shoppers.

Despite the down economy, the retail numbers also indicate that the average amount that each shopper spent on their items was up about $35 from $365 last year to $400 this year.

With today signaling the open of the online holiday shopping push with the start of Cyber Monday and the CyberMonday deals and discounts that go with it, analysts expect to see more records broken.

All of the major retailers are spending big this Cyber Monday trying to drive buyers to their web sites. Last year retail sales from Cyber Monday reached $1 billion, and retailers want to get as much of that pie as possible.

To that end, both the internet and television have seen a barrage of Cyber Monday ads focused on deals which were designed to top the Black Friday offers. Many retailers like Amazon and Walmart reportedly launched their Cyber Monday sale campaigns a little early this year.