As if Black Friday was not enough to get your hand on great deals, be ready as Cyber Monday is just around the corner.
Cyber Monday is known for being the year's biggest online shopping day. The first Monday after Thanksgiving has been declared 2005 a commercial holiday by Shop.org.
With an increase of 11.9% from 2020 to 2021 due to primarily retailers releasing deals earlier, thus, customers do not have to wait until a specific Monday to shop for sales. This ‘trend’ has been aggravated by concerns regarding product availability and supply chain issues, leading to massive gains over the years.
The marketing term, Cyber Monday, is a 24-hour online shopping event that is often considered an extension of the Black Friday sales. E-commerce players’ websites are accessed the most during the afternoon and evening.
Many smart and savvy eCommerce retailers take advantage of the ‘Black Friday sales and use those insights to improve their Cyber Monday sales. By replacing disfavored offers with deals that are in high demand, retailers can keep their customers happy and drive more profit.
But what makes this day so popular?
Besides the discounts and offers, it is the timing that makes it so popular. Timing is great for the shoppers that want to start their shopping for Christmas, Hanukkah and other occasions earlier.
Online shopping is more convenient. Shoppers take more advantage of Cyber Monday sales because they can shop from anywhere as sales are located online.
Also, during the holiday season, online shopping is a better option for time-strapped customers as shopping can be done at all hours of the day and they will avoid typical in-store crowds.
Cyber Monday had seen a record-breaking success in 2020 during Covid-19 pandemic. And this is because many businesses had to close their doors for in-store shopping because of the coronavirus, thus, online shopping has seen a massive surge. People had no other option to get certain products, as they were concerned that in-person shopping could compromise contracting Covid-19.
However, with everything going on this year, inflation is weighing heavily on the shoppers' minds that are shopping this holiday season. According to a RetailMeNot survey, roughly half of shoppers will buy fewer items this year due to inflation, leading to a customer expenditure lowered by 8% less than they did last year. However, the NRF expects holiday sales during the months of November and December to increase between 6% and 8% compared to last year. But taking into account the effect of inflation, it marks an overall decline.
So what does this lead for Cyber Monday?
In a report from McKinsey & Company’s, the marketing strategies senior partner, Kelsey Robinson, and the consumer insight and sentiment analysts, Tamara Charm, note that “With consumers’ sentiment about the economy at a historical low with concerns about inflation, they’re looking for savings and seeking value where they can find it,”. They added in a joint statement “However, even given this negative overall economic sentiment, people in the US are more excited for the holidays and are eager to spend and splurge.”
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are typically days that people get a lot of their holiday shopping done, and experts say deals may be deeper in 2022 compared to past years — since many brands and retailers have excess inventory and need to get rid of stock before 2023. Although the country’s overall economic circumstances may not be the greatest, these two factors are making Black Friday and Cyber Monday shine in 2022.
Cyber Monday reflects and highlights the growth of e-commerce, impacting bricks and mortar stores. In terms of online sales, Cyber Monday surpasses Black Friday sales, however, Black Friday is the winner when it comes to total volume sales thanks to in-store shoppers.
The weeks leading up to and the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday are an all-around shopping frenzy, whether it’s in-store, online, or both.
Lastly, for this year, experts anticipate that online shopping will dominate in comparison to in-store shopping during the holiday season- meaning that the trend from the past years is continued. However, we could see more people returning to in-store shopping in 2022 as they became more comfortable spending time in larger groups and traveling.