They already have taken a chunk out of Black Friday shopping totals. And we should find out soon if the Thanksgiving Day sales many retailers held will also eat into Cyber Monday sales.

Today is the traditional day when people flock online to pick up bargains at what was traditional the start of the online shopping season.

It started when people used their work computers to go online — since relatively few had Internet access at home — or had slow connections. But with a growing number of people able to access the Web at home — Cyber Monday has lost some of its cachet.

At the same time, sites have been running sales all weekend to get a jump on the shortened holiday shopping season this year. And that may also take a bit out of Cyber Monday sales.

Shoppers spent at lot on Thanksgiving — and this year, online sales on Thanksgiving were also up compared to a year ago — this according to IBM Benchmark data.