Warm up your mouse, watch your tweets, it’s time to shop

Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They're both so 2009.

Welcome to Cyber Holiday Season, in which deals never end, merchants have nothing to hide and the stores are always open. The evolution of holiday shopping continues, as many doorbuster deals have already happened.

"I think what's changed the most (this year) is stores are creating a buzz earlier than usual, especially with social media," said Laura Coronado, creator of the LollieShopping.com blog. "Businesses now have instant communication with their customers."

Coronado, who has lived in Las Vegas for nine years and is known in the Twitterverse as @Lollieshopping, has been blogging about fashion and shopping for more than three years. She spends a lot of time tracking down deals and sharing them with her more than 6,000 followers on Twitter.

"Retailers are acting that much quicker to get the announcements out about sales," Coronado said. "This year, the previews of the Black Friday ads are out weeks in advance."

She said BlackFriday.info is her favorite site to view hundreds of sales fliers touting deals in brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

"You can see the actual scan of the advertisements," Coronado said. "It's like looking into a fortune teller's crystal ball and seeing into the future."

In years past, merchants kept their Black Friday deals very close to the vest.

"Retailers aren't changing their ads, but they are changing their strategy," Coronado said.

Shoppers are the real winners, as they can compare deals, plan their Black Friday shopping strategies or save gasoline and time by buying online.

Thousands of people will rise early on Friday and camp out in front of the locked doors of shops they've identified as having the best deals. Coronado said shoppers who prepare usually succeed.

"Plan to go with a team of people. And know the layout of the store," she said. "Go directly to the section with your item and send team members to their sections. You should be able to walk away with two or three of the items you came for."

Coronado suggests that online shoppers stay close to the Twitter feeds of their friends and other shoppers.

"People will be tweeting their finds, sales and special offers," she said.

She suggest people search for deals on Twitter using the hashtags #sale or #cybermonday.

Coronado said e-mail newsletters are the hidden gems of online shopping.

"You should sign up for your favorite merchants' newsletter," she said. "They have lots of special offers for subscribers only. I know people hate junk mail, but you can always unsubscribe after the holidays."

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.