Many shoppers used their computers instead of hitting the stores for holiday deals this Cyber Monday.

A report by the National Retail Federation says this also seemed to be a trend this past Black Friday, when the number of online shoppers edged out those in the stores.

Dr. Philip Lane, of Fairfield University, says while online shopping may hurt the foot traffic at stores, it can also help their sales if they get into the online business themselves.

He says stores need to be nimble and tech savvy to survive the recent trend that shows more people went online shopping this past Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

According to Dr. Lane, stores' online shopping presence can actually help increase their overall sales by drawing customers to stores where they may not have otherwise shopped.

Online shopping also increases competition, making the profit margin narrower.

"They're going to have looked it up online, see what they can get from X, Y and Z, walk back into Best Buy or to an appliance store and say this is what these other guys will do and what will you do for me," says Dr. Lane.

Mom-and-pop shops may be threatened by the online trend unless they develop a niche, according to Dr. Lane. He says consumers will continue to pay for that unique shopping experience for special items.

The National Retail Federation says even the online shopping experience is changing as people are now starting to use their mobile devices instead of their computers.