If you’re like us, you don’t need manufactured buying frenzies such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday to get you shopping, you just need a decent deal on an item you want.  In the coming weeks we’ll be telling you about lots of great sales on pieces you’ve been pining for, with loads of incentives from your favorite retailers.  To keep you shopping smart, here are our takeaways on where the deals were this past weekend.  Keep the results in mind as you sale through the rest of the holiday season.

To provide you this data, Shop It To Me analyzed sales on 58,952 items this year and 30,350 from last year. For Cyber Monday 2010, we examined 43,755 women’s items and 10,744 men’s. For Black Friday 2010 we examined 45,701 women’s items and 11,646 men’s.  Here are the findings:

This year, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts were slightly less than last year.  Discounts on Black Friday were slightly better than Cyber Monday:

• Black Friday discounts: 45%-off this year vs. 47%-off last year
• Cyber Monday discounts: 43%-off this year vs. 47%-off last year

Overall, average Cyber Monday discount this year was 43%-off (compared to 47%-off last year).  Greatest discounts were on Women’s apparel vs. other departments).

• Women’s: 44% this year vs. 48% last year
• Men’s: 38% this year vs. 45% last year
• Kids were 4 percentage lower than last year as well

On Cyber Monday, Women’s Categories mirrored the discounts seen on Black Friday:

• However, on Cyber Monday, no category offered average discount of over 50%-off.
• Biggest discounts were Casual pants 47%-off, Casual shirts and dresses 46% off, Outerwear 46% off, Shorts and Skirts 48% off, Swimwear and Tshirts 46%-off.
• Least reduced items were Accessories 38%-off, Bags 37%-off, Jewelry 37%-off, Sleepwear 35%-off.

As far as where to find the best bargains:

• Online-only stores (i.e., Piperlime, Shopbop, Endless) had the biggest discounts (46%-off), followed by Specialty stores (43%-off) and Department store sites (40%-off).
• This followed the pattern we saw last year:  Online-only stores averaged 51%-off, Specialty retailers offered 45%-off, Department store sites were 39%-off.

Get free shipping:

This year, nearly half of the retailers we work with provided some type of free shipping offer.  Last year, it was a quarter to a third of retailers that provided it.

Happy Cyber Monday! Since there are too many incredible deals happening today to focus in on just a few, we figured we’d share a handful of promo codes and limited time offers from some of our retail partners instead.

Below you will find some outstanding offers available to you via Shop It To Me Search:

ShopBop.com

Choose your deal! Get $50 off orders over $250 or $100 off orders over $500 with code BIGEVENT at checkout. (Expires 11/29)

Bloomingdales.com

Today Only! Get $50 off your total order of $250 or more. Discount applied at checkout, one code per order. Exclusions do apply, so see site for details. (Expires 11/29).

Tobi.com

Get 30% off select items! Use code THANKS30 at checkout. Exclusions apply. (Expires 11/29)

Bluefly.com

$30 off your entire order of $150 or more, and Free Shipping! Click an item from Shop It To Me Search for your discount to be applied at checkout. One discount per order.

SteveMadden.com

Shop It To Me Exclusive! Get 30% off select items plus Free Shipping with code SHOPIT30 at checkout. (Expires 12/6)

Piperlime.com

Get 20% off select items with code LUCKY20 at checkout. Exclusions apply, see site for details. Plus, get Free Shipping & Free Returns on all orders! (Expires 11/29).

ShopGoldyn.com

Get 35% off all orders, plus Free Shipping over $100! Use code FRIDAYMONDAY at checkout. All sales final. (Expires 11/29)

The largest shopping day of the year has come and gone—and our members scooped up some serious Black Friday bargains by using their personalized editions of Salemail to find out who had the merch they wanted on sale in their sizes.

Since we’re all about digging into the data, Shop It To Me analyzed sales on more than 45,000 clothing and accessories items from 75+ online retailers.  If you’re as curious as we were to find out where the best deals were to be had, read on for the Black Friday redux. Stay tuned tomorrow when we recap Cyber Monday!

Overall, discounts were just slightly lower on Black Friday this year compared to last (45% off this year vs. 47% off last year).

• Women’s items were average 46%-off this year vs. 48%-off last year
• Men’s items: 39%-off this year vs. 44% last year

By Department:

Women’s discounts were 7% steeper than for Men’s (46%-off for women, 39%-off for men).  This pattern held true for the second year in a row (last year showed +4% greater discounts for women than men).

Categories:

This year (2010), the largest discounts on women’s items were found on Casual pants (50%-off), Casual shirts (49%-off), Dresses (50%-off), Shorts (51%-off), and Skirts (52%-off).  Smaller discounts were found on items more typically associated with gifting: Bags (39%-off), Accessories (39%-off), Jewelry (37%-off), Intimates (40%-off), and Shoes (41%-off).

Women’s Discounts By Channel:

• If you’re looking for a serious bargain, online-only stores are where to look (i.e., Endless.com, Shopbop.com, Piperlime.com, etc).  For the second year in a row, Online-only stores offered the steepest discounts of all channels.  But last year, the deals were even better (average 48%-off this year, but 51%-off last year).
• Department store discounts were slightly steeper this year (43%-off) than last (40%-off).
• Specialty stores (i.e., gap.com, jcrew.com, stevemadden.com, etc) marked products down slightly less than last year (44%-off this year vs. 46%-off last year).

Pricing:

Overall, the prices retailers charged on women’s items were lower this year than last (both original and sale prices):

• Average Original price charged this year: $220 vs. $247 last year
• Average Sale price charged this year: $119 vs. $129 last year

An exception to this was Department stores.  Department stores charged higher Original and Sale prices this year compared to last year, and also compared to other channels:

Original prices charged this year vs. last year:

• Department stores: $290 vs. $213
• Online-only: $260 vs. $324
• Specialty retailers: $118 vs. $114

Sale prices charged this year vs. last year:

• Dept: $166 vs. $129
• Online-only: $136 vs. $159
• Specialty retailers: $65 vs. $62

Although their discounts were slightly better this year, it appears that department stores are working hard to maintain their premium positioning by keeping their original and sale prices higher than other channels, and higher than last year.

—–

Analysis was based on:

45,701 women’s items TY (2010) vs. 23,844 womens items LY (2009)

11,646 men’s items TY (2010) vs. 5,974 items LY (2009)

75 total retailers (9 dept stores, 25 Online only, 41 Specialty stores)

—–

Here are the most popularly clicked items from Salemail this past week:

Free People Jolene’s Jacket: Reg $178, Now $124.99

Ella Moss Boardwalk Plaid Dress: Reg $182, Now $90.99

Tory Burch Reva Ballet Flats: Reg $235, Now $163.99

The North Face ‘Logo’ Pants: Reg $40, Now $29.90

Alice + Olivia Kendra Sequin Dress: Reg $396, Now $277.20

Free People Super Skinny Five Pocket Jeans: Reg $68, Now $47.99

Fashion rule of thumb: One size does not fit all (unless you’re a fan of the shapeless-sack-as-shirt aesthetic).

With this in mind, we’ve created a shopping universe filled with only your own personal sizes and favorite brands.  You may have seen our sale website before – we just added a bunch of new features, including a search bar, and we’ve aptly named it Shop It To Me Search. It’s only available for Shop It To Me members, so if you haven’t signed up, join now for free at www.shopittome.com.

Let’s take a tour!

1. Search for specific items or trends. Shopping for a specific trend, like a military-inspired jacket? Enter keyword “military” in the search box and hit “Search” to find what’s available.

2. See your last Salemail. If you can’t access your Salemail, click “Last Salemail” to see only the items in your most recent email.

3. Shop by price or discount. Now let’s say you want to browse all your sales, but stick to items $100 or less. Just use the price filters to narrow your selections. And while you’re at it, set a minimum discount range (say, 50% or more) to see only the steepest markdowns.

4. Filter your sales by brand, clothing type or retailer. Want to see all the Marc Jacobs shoes on sale in your size right now? (We know –we’re mind readers.) Just  use the filters on the left and specify the clothing category and brand.

5. View extra coupons. Just like in your Salemail, any extra discounts or coupon codes will appear beneath the name of the retailer, so be sure to use these codes at checkout. For example, when Nordstrom had free shipping for orders of $100 or more, we listed the code HOLIDAY10 in this area.

Try it out, have fun shopping your personal boutique and email us at feedback@shopittome.com to let us know what you think!

Get in on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday clothing sale madness…while relaxing on the couch in your PJs. We’re sending Shop It To Me members exclusive updates this Friday, Nov. 26^th and Monday, Nov. 29^th – packed with all the 1-day designer markdowns in your favorite brands, plus exclusive sale codes just for subscribers. If you’re not a member, sign up now – it’s free.

Who: Shop It To Me subscribers. Join at www.shopittome.com – it’s free!
What: Special Black Friday and Cyber Monday updates filled with mega sales on clothing in your size and favorite brands.
When: Black Friday (November 26^th) and Cyber Monday (November 29^th)
Where: Check your email or visit Shop It To Me Search at www.shopittome.com/search
Why: Scoop up some of the steepest clothing sales you’re likely to see until the New Year.

Open your email early to snatch up the deals before they sell out. This year we expect to see sales 40% off and higher. Have any holiday shopping on the horizon? Get it done now and save a bunch. Based on last year, this weekend’s discounts will be the heftiest we’ll see until the New Year.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve added MichaelKors.com as a retailer on Shop It To Me just in time for the holidays! Now you can shop designs by this polished and sophisticated American sportswear brand on sale. Below are a few of our favorite looks that we spotted on Shop It To Me Search today:

MICHAEL by Michael Kors Zipper Dress (30% off)

MICHAEL by Michael Kors Desert Cheetah Dress (30% off)

MICHAEL by Michael Kors Gretchen Leggings (30% off)

MICHAEL by Michael Kors Paper Twill Cargo pants (30% off)

As an added bonus, from now until November 30th you get free shipping on all orders over $100 with promotion code SHOPMK!

*Don’t miss out on snagging sleek looks by Michael Kors for amazing prices — add this brand to your Shop It To Me profile! Log in to your account at www.shopittome.com. Then click “Brands”, select the “All Brands” list, check off Michael Kors, and hit “Save”.

Watching the American Music Awards this past Sunday night, it felt as if virtually every celebrity was donning sequins of some sort.  And, there is no short supply of them found on sale, through Shop It To Me!  Whether you’re looking for a sequin miniskirt, all-over sequin dress, something more modest with a bit of bling, or sequin scarf to accessorize, we’ve got you covered.  Over 400 sequin clothing items were found through Shop It To Me today alone.  Be-dazzle everyone at that holiday fete!

Left to right (top row, then bottom row):

DKNY Long sleeve sequin minidress: Reg $295, Now $177.50

Alice + Olivia dress: Reg $396, now $277.20

DVF sequin shorts: Reg $325, Now $162.50

DKNY long sleeve sequin tunic dress: Reg $150, Now $90

Rachel Roy Purple sequin top: Reg $235, Now $137

Nanette Lepore sequin tank: Reg $298, Now $178

Juicy Couture sequin ballet flats: Reg $260, Now $167

Badgley Mischka sequin bag: Reg $225, Now $157.50

Hint: Go to www.shopittome.com/search and enter “sequin” in the search box.  You’ll see results from your favorite brands and sizes!  Enjoy finding the sequin dress of your dreams.

These Rich & Skinny silk pants are perfect for the holiday season! Here are three reasons why you need to have them:

1. Expandable, drawstring waist allows for added consumption of turkey, pie, and other delicious holiday treats.
2. The style is sweatpants meet dress pants, which is an excellent, carefree combination.
3. They are 75% off & come in three colors… need we say more?

Rich & Skinny Silk Pants (75% off): were $187, now $40

Well, the nominations have been announced and we’re delighted that Shop It To Me UK has been shortlisted in two separate categories for the Drapers Etail Awards 2011.

Drapers is the industry ‘bible’ for all things relating to the British fashion industry.  The Drapers Etail Awards honour the very best in online fashion, so we’re beyond excited to have made the shortlist for Best Aggregate Site and Best Etail Innovation.

Looking forward to the awards ceremony in London in January – fingers crossed it’s our lucky night!  We’re privileged to be working with so many inspirational brands in the wonderful world of online shopping.

A couple days back, Prince William and girlfriend Kate Middleton announced their long-anticipated engagement. For the press conference, Kate stepped out in a ravishing twilight blue wrap dress, accessorized simply with black pumps and an understated necklace. She looked absolutely stunning!

Kate and Prince William the night of their engagement announcement.

The Issa dress Kate donned may be sold out across the globe, but this doesn’t mean you can’t get the look. What’s better is you don’t have to pay full price to do it. Here are a few similar looks we spotted on Shop It To Me Search:

Rachel Roy jersey long sleeved dress (40% off)

Chloe crepe pleated dress (40% off)

Donna Karan plunge dress (40% off)

Donald J Pliner suede pump (50% off)

Kenneth J Lane pearl and crystal necklace (40% off)

Elizabeth and James platform pumps (30% off)

Still can’t get enough of Kate’s look? Add Issa London to your Shop It To Me profile to see more items by the designer. Just login to your account, click Edit – Brands and then hit the “All Brands” tab. Select Issa and hit save!