The good news for cost-conscious shoppers is that they can look forward to Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays for some of the best bargains and the most affordable online prices.

While Black Fridays were extremely popular in the past, Cyber Mondays have also attained favor.

The Cyber Monday shopping guide features online retailers like Amazon and BestBuy.com, which offer customers online deals that cannot be found in ordinary stores.

Practical consumers take advantage of these Cyber Monday deals by shopping online instead of going personally to retail outlets thereby saving on precious time, money and effort.

Shoppers are spared the inconvenience of waiting in line and coping with undesirable crowds. In addition, most of the online retailers offer free shipping on this day. Nowadays the trend has gone towards more shoppers seeking online deals rather than in-store prices.

Magazines and analysts have described Cyber Monday as "the biggest shopping day of the year." Web sites are dedicated to providing consumers with all of the information necessary for them to take advantage of the Cyber Monday deals.

Analysts have even stated that in terms of sales, Cyber Monday is usually the highest spending day of the year.

"Black Friday was once the primary day for deals, but Cyber Monday has now taken over as the biggest shopping day of the year. How did this new shopping day come about? It is actually quite simple, as the luxury of the Internet has created a new trend in shopping," according to blogger Henry Parter.

Cyber Monday is the Monday right after Thanksgiving. It features bargain offerings and free shipping, making it a preference of many consumers.

Meanwhile, it is also important to consider that shopping habits differ particularly between genders.

Books on marketing and the science of shopping explain carefully how members of opposite sexes go about their buying chores in supermarkets and department stores despite the economic difficulties.

While the tendency of women is to be very laid-back and slowly walk through shops, scrutinize products, compare prices, look at brands and values and interrogate sales personnel, men spend very little time in searching for the best buy and are quite impatient in dealing with sellers. They either buy or leave the store hurriedly without asking for assistance or making any purchases.

Women are more prudent shoppers, according to the book written by Paco Underhill on the "Science of Shopping."