Bermuda’s eMonday online shopping sale was hailed a success yesterday by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors.She said thousands of locals shopped online on December 5, and the 35 retailers taking part in the Cyber Monday-like event reported that sales were higher than last year.Aout 4,800 visitors used the eMonday website to access the participating eTailers and 10 percent of eMonday site users came to eMonday.bm directly through Facebook advertisements, she said. Of those participants reporting site data to the organisers, 20 e-Tailers saw about 7,000 visitors.David Zuill of Davidrose Jewelry said, “It was a great Initiative to buy Bermuda. We saw this as an opportunity to design a piece for our loyal Facebook fans while creating more awareness for our brand. We are pleased to say that we have exceeded our expectations. Our piece had sold out before 9pm. The response that we received was great!”Sundee Faulkner of Bermuda Clayworks was also pleased with sales.“Bermuda Clayworks has always been popular with locals because of our well known customised house plaques and unique all Bermuda made contemporary pottery,” she said.“eEMonday helped bring awareness to our 15-year website presence and the understanding that if one is comfortable making a purchase in Bermuda from overseas online sites such as Amazon, Land’s End or Home Depot then there is no difference in purchasing locally online.“As a Bermuda retailer of Bermuda made quality products, I would be extremely pleased to work with the promoters of eMonday on a regular basis.”Electronics retailer Redlaser Ltd sold 15 Apple TVs in a single day on its website. People snapped up the TVs after the company lowered the price from $169 to $139 as an eMonday special.Lexy Correia of art supplies seller DNA Creative said: “For a very young business, we thought that eMonday would benefit us since we are an online only store. We were extremely happy with the response since it is residual. We look forward to the event next year as we’re certain it will be received even better as locals get used to the option of buying online locally vs. overseas.”Organisers are now looking to encourage potential eTailers to get online.“Additional workshops will be offered throughout 2012,” Ms Minors’ statement said. “Additionally, as there were a number of potential eTailers who could not have their sites ready for December 5, the eMonday website will be a resource that can be used throughout the year to find eTailers offering products and services that are available to the local market. They therefore encourage eTailers to continue to sign up at www.eMonday.bm and register any online promotions that they have.”Sponsored by the Department of E-Commerce within the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism, the initiative this year was being spearheaded by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation. eMonday partners included the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce Retail Division.Other sponsors included North Rock Communications, Butterfield, HSBC Bermuda and Capital G.“The goal of eMonday is to support and encourage the development of e-commerce and highlight the importance technology plays in enabling entrepreneurs to reach new markets and develop their businesses,” Ms Minors said. “Not only did we have more eTailers sign up to participate in eMonday this year, we also saw many more transactions take place.”Thirty-five eTailers signed up to participate in eMonday including: 2 Gem Treasures, Advanced Services, Alexandra Mosher Studio Jewellery, Almil, AudioVisual Electronics, Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, Bermuda Clayworks, Bermuda Jam Factory, Bermuda Legal Solutions.com, Big Savings Zone, Bookmart, Chrysalis Cosmetics, CL Wire-art Jewellery, Custom Design Solutions, DavidRose, Digicel Bermuda, DNA Creative Shoppe, Emajin, eMoo Bermuda Directory, Fantasea Bermuda, FoodsCaribbean.com, Gibbons Company, Howarth, HWP Group, JW Season, N’Moderation, North Rock Communications, Premier Tickets, RedLaser, Rene Hill Originals, SanSations, Surprise!!, thegreenhousebermuda, and To Have and To Hold.