Somewhere along the way, the term "Black Friday" came into common usage to refer to the kickoff of the holiday shopping season on the Friday after the U.S. Thanksgiving. Soon thereafter, the term "Cyber Monday" was born. It refers to that following Monday as a time when people begin ordering online gifts. I've not found much evidence to support that Cyber Monday is the most active online shopping day of the year, and I'm more apt to believe it's the product of some aggressive marketing propaganda.
But no one can deny that online shopping is increasingly popular and now widely accepted. There are some valid reasons to be cautious with your credit card number and those fine-print terms of sale, but clicking through a few screens has distinct advantages over driving to a crowded mall or market, finding a parking space and fighting the crowds to find gifts.
Perhaps it's fairly obvious at this point that I'm not much of a shopper. Although I wouldn't buy just anything online, there are many items for which I'd gladly substitute cyberspace for the concrete marketplace. I find it often makes sense for budget travelers to shop for travel gifts online because in some cases, you can't buy these things off of a shelf anyway!