Cyber Monday: Record sales expected

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By Jessica Dickler @CNNMoney November 21, 2011: 2:14 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- More than half of all workers plan to do some of their holiday shopping while on the clock Cyber Monday, which is expected to bring in record online sales this year.

The majority of workers with Internet access at the office -- some 75.9 million people -- plan to take a break from their day-to-day duties to get some shopping done next Monday, according to Shop.org's eHoliday survey released Monday.

Last year's Cyber Monday was the most popular online shopping day of the year with sales over $1 billion, according to data compiled by online tracking firm ComScore. And this year, even more shoppers are jumping on the bandwagon. Sales for 2011 are projected to hit a record $1.2 billion, Andrew Lipsman, ComScore's industry analyst, said.

The lunch hour, or noon to 1 p.m., will be the busiest time for online shopping that day, Claudia Lombana, a shopping specialist for PayPal. But bosses shouldn't expect much work to get done during other times either, she added.

"Productivity will be lower than usual on Cyber Monday because people will be shopping from their computers all day," she said.

Evidently, the lure of the online deals will be difficult for many employees to resist. Eight-in-10 online retailers will have special promotions on Cyber Monday, according to the survey by Shop.org, an online division of the industry group the National Retail Federation.

"In addition to many free shipping promotions, there will be plenty of extra ways to save on Cyber Monday, including percentages off entire sites and online-only sales," said Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell in a statement.

Most retailers will offer coupons or across-the-board discounts and more than one-third will have limited-time promotions. Another third will offer free shipping and about 15% will have a free gift with purchase, the Shop.org survey said.