ECONOMICS REPORT - Holiday Shopping on the Job? Call It 'Cyb

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Holiday Shopping on the Job? Call It 'Cyber Monday'
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, December 02, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

For Americans, the traditional season to buy winter holiday gifts begins on the last Friday in November. "Black Friday" is the name for the day just after Thanksgiving Day. But lately there is a term for another popular shopping day that follows Black Friday: "Cyber Monday."

 
Online shopper²
The term Cyber Monday comes from an observation made by people who study the holiday buying season. That is, lots of people may have gone into stores over the Thanksgiving weekend to look for gifts. But many wait until they return to work on Monday to buy online. Many people have faster Internet connections on the computers at their jobs than at home.

An Internet research company, comScore Networks, says Americans spent more than nine hundred million dollars online from Thanksgiving through Sunday. Then they bought four hundred eighty-five million dollars in goods over the Internet on Monday. The company says both amounts were twenty-six percent higher than last year.

What were the most popular sites for online shoppers? EBay is said to have had almost twelve million visitors on Monday. EBay is a site on which people sell goods to each other. Next were the Web sites of Amazon and Wal-Mart Stores.

Consumer spending represents two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States. And about one-fourth of all personal spending takes place during the holiday season. There are gifts to buy for Christmas, Hanukkah and the African-American celebration of Kwanzaa.

The day after Thanksgiving got the name Black Friday from the tradition of recording³ profits in black ink and losses in red ink. Black Friday may be a profitable⁴ time for sellers⁵, but it is no longer the biggest shopping day of the year. Now the busiest day usually falls just before Christmas on December twenty-fifth.

Still, the National Retail⁶ Federation⁷ says more than sixty million people visited stores last Friday, eight percent more than a year ago.

The industry group says its expects holiday sales to increase by six percent over last year. There are concerns that high energy prices could cut into holiday spending, but those prices are down from their recent highs.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. Internet users⁸ -- when they're not shopping -- can read and listen to our reports at www.tingroom.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 shopper   

n.购物者，顾客

参考例句：

• Hong Kong is a shopper's paradise.香港是购物者的天堂。
• She is one shopper who takes responsibility in bagging her own goods.她是一名承担责任把食品装进袋子的顾客。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

5 sellers   

n.卖者( seller的名词复数 )；卖方；销售者；销售商

参考例句：

• buyers and sellers transacting business 进行交易的买方和卖方
• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。