Due to longer and earlier promotions this year, fewer shoppers were seen in stores or online over the holiday weekend this year than in 2013, a trend that is expected to continue throughout Cyber Monday.

The National Retail Federation said it expects around 127 million people to shop online on Monday, down several million from the about 131 million who planned to take part in Cyber Monday last year, USA Today reports.

Matthew Shay, CEO of NRF, said that the shift in shopping habits could be due to the fact that some consumers feel better about the state of the economy and are therefore less determined to find the best deals. This is also coupled with the fact that shoppers are realizing they can get deals online throughout the entire holiday shopping season.

Black Friday promotions started as early as a week or more before the big day for many big retailers, and most of the major stores offered the same in-store and online deals over the weekend. Cyber Monday will continue those deals from brands like Target, Walmart, Old Navy, J.C. Penney, Staples and Kohl's, who all began the deals days before.

For the rest of the remaining days of 2014, "every day is going to be Black Friday," Shay said.

"Every minute is going to be Cyber Monday," he continued. "[Retailers] can't let up for an instant because of the competitive nature of what's happening out there."

The nature of these 24/7 online shopping deals has also likely led to the drop in people who feel they need to head to stores for deals. Besides the convenience and avoiding crazy crowds, 77 percent of online shoppers over the holiday weekend said they found comparable or better deals online than in store, according to Consumer Electronics Association data cited by USA Today.

"Shoppers have changed the way they view exclusive deals," Shay explained. "They have this expectation that it's going to be there all the time."

Related