Despite the crush of Black Friday shoppers Saturday, for some folks the shopping has yet to begin. And that's what Jim Holland is gearing up for.

As chief executive officer of Park City-based Backcountry.com, he's an online retailer — or "e-tailer" as they're known in the industry — whose biggest sales day for the past two years has been the second Monday in December. He and other e-tailers typically see their largest sales volume in the days after after Black Friday.

"It's always been that way," Holland said. "I think (fellow Utah e-tailer) Overstock.com would say the same. Thanksgiving is when the gun goes off. But we spend the whole year literally trying to make sure all systems are up to snuff for when our volume really hits. As CEO, I just try to get out of the way at this point in the game."

Holland thinks there are several forces at work that determine when his real crunch time will come. Some shoppers who find his Web site have already gone to retail stores and can't find what they're looking for, either in terms of merchandise or price. He also believes "people are shopping at work, where they have a high-speed connection.

"That's why Mondays are always the busiest day of the week in e-commerce, particularly when you're selling outdoor gear," he said. "People get out there on the weekend to do their thing and realize they need a new piece of gear. They get around to buying it when they have a high-speed connection at work.

"Employers, take note." There may be some extra hard-working types glued to their computer screens at work between now and Dec. 24.

The Associated Press reported last year that the Thanksgiving weekend — Friday through Sunday — garnered $925 million for online retailers, up 26 percent from the same period in 2004. And with the growing use of DSL and high-speed Internet connections on home computers, e-tailers are looking for another record year.

Holland recognizes there are different personality types when it comes to shopping. Some people are "super anal and organized. They're out there with the first bell. Others need to hear the ding a few times before it sinks in. I think the median bell curve for shoppers really triggers them around Dec. 11 or Dec. 12. For us, I can tell you with certainty, it's all hands on deck at that point."

In other words, no one at Backcountry.com worried about spending Thanksgiving night gearing up for the hordes that hit stores beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday. But they'll have their late nights, Holland said.

The actual holiday is "not that busy — people are doing other things besides shopping" online.
Though he declined to release more detailed numbers, Holland said his Web site gets about 150,000 visits per day. And as the holiday rush ramps up — "it always kicks off when they start playing Christmas music in the stores" — Backcountry's packaging and distribution operation in West Valley City will be humming.

"It's an automated warehouse, so we'll have gear flying all over the place."

The company is one of the fastest-growing in Utah, with Internet Retailer magazine rating them among the top 50 best Web sites.

DeseretNews.com original article