More than ever, shoppers need to pay attention to the fine print on the screen, and stay alert for deals that are changing daily and sometimes hourly. There may be great offers available because of the struggling economy, but if you blink — or don’t click — in time, you could miss out.

“I think retailers will be playing the price game sooner than in the past,” said Kurt Peters, editor-in-chief of Internet Retailer, a trade publication.

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Indeed, that seems to be the case, despite the fact that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, are considered the traditional starting points for holiday shopping. Many retailers’ Web sites have been filled with specials for several weeks now.

And, there’s already a fair amount of texting, Twittering and e-mails going on by retailers and shoppers about sales and bargains.

Social networking — be it through sites like Twitter or Facebook — is magnifying the season’s gift-a-thon more than ever before.

Guidance, a company that creates e-commerce sites, surveyed 1,000 online shoppers and found that nearly 30 percent of them cited “some form of ‘social action’ as the best way to find out about deals or discounts online.”

“Two years ago, social media wasn’t even considered a source of traffic by merchants,” said Jon Provisor of Guidance, in a statement.

Phone alerts abound
You don’t have to be sitting in front of the computer to shop, either. Traditional merchandisers will find you, or help you find them.

At JCPenney’s Web site, for example, you can sign up for a wake-up call for the day after Thanksgiving, as well as get “helpful shopping tips” texted to your phone throughout the season. You may want to consider putting your phone on “vibrate” at work.

Sears is launching “Sears2go,” for cell phone users, who want to text in their orders, do product searches or find special offers.

“Say you want to get a Craftsman tool set for your friend, You text in the order and Sears will text you back when your item is ready for pickup at the store you want,” said Tom Aiello, division vice president for Sears Holdings Corp. “This creates a very easy way for people to use their mobile phone to shop.”

Amazon.com, among others, is also happy to send you a text alert for its “daily deals,” if you’re not already getting bombarded with e-mails from the Internet giant, as well as other retailers.

The company has also started a test version of Amazon Windowshop, a kind of 3-D experience where shoppers can sample movie trailers, music and audio book reviews.

Image: Partial Sears Web page
Sears
Sears.com is among many retailers trying to entice customers to shop online by offering different deals on different days.
In addition to a myriad of online shopping comparison sites, such as dealnews.com, pricespider.com and fatwallet.com, to help consumers, there’s even one that was recently released for the iPhone. It’s called “TheFind: Where to Shop.”

No matter where or how you wind up shopping, expect prices and offers to change as frequently as the Dow industrials.

Sears, for example, which also owns Kmart, plans to have various deals at various times during the season, said Aiello. For example, Sears’ recent offer of free shipping on items $99 or more just ended on certain items, “but those types of deals will continue to come up and rotate through the season,” as will the free shipping on many items that are $99 and up, he said.

Shipping offers vary
Free shipping has been one of the big lures for online shoppers, but this year, it may not be as widespread among retailers as last year. Higher transportation costs is the major reason.

“Retailers are examining their shipping costs very closely, probably on a week-by-week basis, if not more than that,” said Peters of Internet Retailer.

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“Every year it becomes a showdown between retailers and consumers as to who will blink first about shipping costs. Consumers never want to pay it, and retailers always want to charge it.

“Given the economy this year, retailers will be under a great deal of pressure to modify their shipping costs,” he said. “Retailers will probably put conditions on free shipping, such as a purchase of $25, or whatever the amount will be. But that’s something consumers should look out for.”

CONTINUED : Some retailers will reduce free shipping

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