Cyber Monday 2009 looks to be a hit

Cyber Monday is an entirely manufactured event – but it’s one that has found legs in the retail world. And Cyber Monday 2009 is looking to be a strong one.

CNNMoney reports that online shoppers numbered 4.3 million visitors per minute by 2:20pm ET. That was spread across 270 retail sites, such as Overstock.com, QVC.com and more. It’s a 39 percent improvement over last year.

Akamai, which collected the data, expected the number to spike even higher as the day went on (and the west coast hit the lunch hour and late afternoon office doldrums).

The National Retail Federation says 96.5 million Americans will shop online today – though the real surge in online shoppers will come in mid-December, as the last day with guaranteed pre-Christmas shipping draws near.

As with Black Friday, HD TVs, Blu-ray DVDs and video games are the most frequently discounted items on sale today.