Cyber Monday deals to test limits of retailers’ websites

Cyber Monday online shopping frenzy kicked off with retailers offering a slew of discounts and free shipping, testing the limits of their e-commerce operations as they take millions of orders across the country.

Retailers including Amazon.com Inc and Target Corp are offering deliveries with no minimum order limits and enticing deals – for example, up to 40 percent discount on toys like Lego sets and big screen HD TVs at half price.

The much-hyped marketing day is expected to be the largest US online shopping day ever, generating $7.8bln in sales, according to research firm Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions at most of the top US online retailers.

Drawing an estimated 75 million shoppers, the event will severely test retailers’ online platforms as well as their delivery operations. If not backed with the right IT infrastructure, the heavy traffic will lead to headaches such as outages and other technical glitches.

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