Retailers are preparing for one of their biggest weekends of the year as an estimated 164 million people are already planning to go shopping Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the annual survey released by the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

If Cyber Monday statistics are any indication of the future for the overall online sales market, it could be a bright future for the online community.

According to a survey of top retail chief marketing officers by BDO USA LLP, Chicago, retailers are expressing increased optimism for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales this year due to improving consumer confidence and unemployment numbers.