Cyber Monday may be over, but it will certainly be memorable for many online retailers. Early reports indicate online sales were up 13.7% versus last year. Additional data from Coremetrics suggests the average shopper spent $180.03 this year, up a whopping 38% from last year’s $130.04. In fact, according to ComScore, with over $900 million in sales, 2009 could easily set a record as the biggest grossing day in the short lived history of the shopping holiday, originally coined by Shop.org in 2005.

So how are retailers reaching out to customers this holiday? They are sticking to the basics; using tried-and-true marketing channels like email and search. According to BDO Seidman, in its Retail Compass Survey, email promotions were at the top of retailers online marketing strategies. A focus on free shipping offers just edged out search marketing for second place. Not surprisingly Shop.org found that 100% of online retailers surveyed planned email marketing efforts to house lists this holiday season.

Despite the fantastic numbers being reported for Cyber Monday, the busiest online shopping day tends to be later in December, usually the Saturday before Christmas, and is the last day that gifts can be shipped to guarantee delivery by Christmas Day. So retailers can expect another boost to what was a challenging year revenue wise.

The beautiful thing about email is that campaigns can be produced in a relatively short amount of time, which means you can still take advantage of the upcoming holiday shopping surge. Just be sure to employ these crucial email strategies with this email marketing holiday checklist.