Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is a significant shopping event that occurs on the Monday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It is primarily focused on online sales, allowing consumers to access deals from various retailers without the need to visit physical stores. The term "Cyber Monday" was coined in 2005 by marketers at the National Retail Federation to capitalize on the increasing trend of online shopping that followed Black Friday. Since its inception, Cyber Monday has seen remarkable growth in sales, with revenue surpassing $6.5 billion in 2017 alone.
This shopping day appeals to those who prefer the convenience and comfort of shopping from home, particularly after the hectic atmosphere of Black Friday. While Black Friday often features substantial discounts on electronics, Cyber Monday is known for better deals on clothing and other items, providing a broader selection. As more retailers promote their Cyber Monday offerings well in advance, millions of customers participate each year, reflecting a shift in shopping habits towards online platforms. The ongoing debate between the merits of shopping in-store versus online continues, as both days offer unique experiences and advantages for different types of consumers.
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Cyber Monday
An integral part of the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday occurs on the Monday immediately following Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is touted as a critical shopping day for consumers to take advantage of extraordinary sales and deep discounts on merchandise. However, whereas Black Friday’s sales are offered to customers in-person at retail establishments, Cyber Monday’s sales are exclusively available online through merchants’ websites. Due to the proliferation of the Internet, widespread access to home computers and smartphones, and the preference of some customers to avoid the frenetic and sometimes confrontational nature of shopping in person on Black Friday, sales on Cyber Monday have dramatically increased over the course of its relatively short history.
Overview
Cyber Monday is relatively new compared to Black Friday. Although debate surrounds the exact origins of the term "Black Friday," the earliest attested use of the term was in the 1950s, and may have been originally used by police in Philadelphia to describe the traffic jams accompanying the start of the shopping season. An alternate explanation holds that it was the day on which retailers began to show a profit, from the accounting tradition of recording profits in black ink and losses in red, but though officially sanctioned, this version of the term’s origin is considered less likely. On the other hand, Cyber Monday’s origins are much clearer. Marketers at the National Retail Federation coined the term in 2005 in effort to brand the Monday following Black Friday, which had seen an increase in online purchases in previous years. Some experts credited this surge in online sales on this particular Monday as reflecting employees who were at work, but still found themselves in the mood to shop.
Efforts to establish Cyber Monday as a major retail event have succeeded tremendously. In 2005, the first officially designated Cyber Monday brought in sales revenue totaling nearly $500 million. In 2013, Cyber Monday purchases exceeded $2 billion. Financial experts estimate that more than 180 million customers now buy merchandise on Cyber Monday. In 2024, the total revenue of Cyber Monday sales passed the $13 billion mark, setting a new record and far exceeding even the most optimistic predictions for the year. Numerous retailers, such as Target, Walmart, J. C. Penney, and Kohl’s, among many others, now announce their Cyber Monday deals months in advance to entice customers.
Financial analysts debate whether, from a customer’s standpoint, it is more advantageous to shop in person on Black Friday or online on Cyber Monday. Many experts seem to agree that there are pros and cons to each, with the answer often varying depending on what type of products the customer intends to purchase. Black Friday offers much larger discounts to customers on electronics such as televisions, video games and gaming systems, digital cameras, and computer goods; however, there is often a much more limited number of these highly-valued items in a store’s inventory. These items sell out quickly, sometimes resulting in short-tempered customers fighting with one another to procure this discounted merchandise. For example, on Black Friday in 2011, a woman used pepper spray on customers who attempted to take an Xbox system from her two sons at a Los Angeles Walmart. Supporters of Black Friday also claim that the adrenaline rush that shoppers often feel when waiting for the doors to open at stores on Black Friday is a powerful emotional experience whose excitement cannot be replicated when shopping online. On the other hand, advocates for Cyber Monday point out that, generally speaking, ordering clothing and shoes on Cyber Monday offers greater savings than can be gained by purchasing these items on Black Friday. Moreover, proponents of Cyber Monday assert that shopping online offers many more options for customers than does in-person shopping on Black Friday; customers are able to peruse multiple retailers’ stocks of merchandise and then make their selections, rather than feel rushed or compelled to make impulsive purchases on Black Friday due to the tremendous volume of other customers eager to get their hands on deals.
Bibliography
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