Move over Black Friday…Cyber Monday is Here
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, along with a hefty dose of turkey, football and pumpkin pie. Many of
you may have shopped till you dropped on Black Friday and taken care of everyone on your Christmas gift
list. But in case you forgot someone, fear not, you can still get very good deals on Cyber Monday and best of
all you can shop in your PJs… online.
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the Friday following
Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., created by companies to persuade people to shop online. The term was
originally coined by Shop.org in 2005 in a press release when they used it to describe the Monday following
Black Friday because they saw a 77% increase in online sales and shopping on that day, making one of the
biggest shopping days of that year. Since then, Cyber Monday has boomed, and the name recognition has
simply followed its success. The trend has caught on over the years and now every retailer, both online and
traditional have jumped on the bandwagon and retailers advertise heavily for the day and consumers get
another opportunity to shop at heavily discounted prices and promotions. It’s a win-win for both.
Cyber Monday revenues were about $485 million in 2005 and have grown steadily each year and crossed
the $1 billion mark in 2010. It has now become the biggest online shopping day of the year. Analysts believe
Black Friday will be eclipsed by Cyber Monday in a few years for several reasons. While retailers offer great
deals on Black Friday, most of them have very few of the deeply discounted specials. This causes long lines,
jammed parking lots, and even stampede in some cases. Retails also find it very difficult to control the crowd
volume and the scrambling that takes place when the doors open.
Cyber Monday is gaining in popularity for these very reasons. You don’t have to lose sleep to stand in long
lines, fight through crazy traffic or worry about getting trampled by bargain hunters. Not only does it provide
a second opportunity to take advantage of great deals, but people can now shop from the comforts of their
homes, or while they are at work (when the boss is not watching), and in many cases, buy items without
paying sales tax or shipping costs. Experts have started calling this trend as “couch commerce.” Interestingly,
about 70% of the sales are attributed to people in the 18-34 year age group.
Analysts are projecting revenues to surpass $1.2 billion this year. An abundance of deals are expected since
8 out of 10 retailers plan to participate and offer enticing promotions. This year, many retailers started a new
trend called Cyber Monday week and have been offering deals from the beginning of the Thanksgiving week.
Retailers’ are heavily utilizing social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to offer special deals to their fans
and followers.
Here are a few websites that are dedicated to Cyber Monday deals:
http://www.cybermonday2011.com/
http://www.cybermonday.com/
http://www.cybermonday2011.biz/
http://www.cybermonday.biz/