Cyber Monday, the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, will debut thousands of promotions to show what Web sites have to offer this holiday season, according to Shop.org.

The online shopping day is held on the Monday after Thanksgiving (Dec. 1 this year). Nearly 84 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 72.2 percent last year, according to the eHoliday Survey, conducted for Shop.org this fall by Shopzilla. The most popular promotions are expected to be specific deals (38.8%), email campaigns (32.7%), and one-day sales (24.5%). In addition, 22.5 percent of retailers will offer free shipping on all purchases.

“As shoppers focus on price this holiday season, online retailers will be extremely competitive to offer the very best deals,” said Scott Silverman, Shop.org executive director. “Americans who are looking to put a dent in their holiday shopping will be able to find thousands of bargains on Cyber Monday.”

Cyber Monday, a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, a membership community for digital retail and a division of the National Retail Federation, began after online retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

This year, 55.8 percent of workers with Internet access, or 72.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work, according to a Shop.org survey conducted by BIGresearch. In addition, 70 percent of young adults 18-34 with Internet access will shop at work and men are more likely to shop from work than women (60.3% vs. 51.5%).

Online retailers have created a collection of the best online offers for Cyber Monday on CyberMonday.com, which launched two years ago. More than 600 retailers will be posting holiday promotions and special savings both on Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday season.

On Cyber Monday, hundreds of special offers will be available on the site, some of which will be exclusive promotions. CyberMonday.com will feature a Deal of the Hour this year, highlighting a different retail promotion every 60 minutes. Offers will include free shipping specials, dollars off, percentages off, and free gifts with purchase.

Last year, more than 1.5 million people visited CyberMonday.com during the holiday season—three times more than in 2006. Traffic to the site was so substantial that Mall Networks, which powers the site, has dramatically increased capacity for the site this year.

All CyberMonday.com proceeds received by Shop.org benefit its Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund, which helps students pursuing careers in eCommerce. Ray Greenly was a vice president at Shop.org before passing away from cancer in 2005.

Though retailers will be going all-out for Cyber Monday this year, many are also planning to use their own Web sites to drive traffic to stores for Black Friday. According to the eHoliday study, 28.6% of retailers plan to increase online marketing of Black Friday promotions this year. Marketing will include emails about stores’ Black Friday deals (74.3%), mention of Black Friday deals on the retailer’s home page (62.9%) and search marketing (54.3%).

JCK