Understanding
History
Milestones
Global Spread
Beyond Cyber Monday
Frequently Asked Questions
Summary
Budgeting and Saving
Budget
What is Cyber Monday, its history and milestones?
By Jim Probasco
Jim Probasco has over 30 years of experience writing for online and print media, radio, and television, including PBS. His expertise includes programs, government policy, retirement planning, insurance, family finance, home ownership, and loans. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and a master’s degree from Wright State University in music education.
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Updated on November 21, 2023
Reviewed by Margaret James
Fact-checked by Yareli Perez
Yareli Perez is an experienced multimedia journalist and investigator with a master’s degree in journalism. She has worked in multiple cities covering breaking news, politics, education, and more. She specializes in personal finance, investing, and real estate.
Learn about our editorial policies
What is Cyber Monday, its history and milestones?
By Jim Probasco
Jim Probasco has over 30 years of experience writing for online and print media, radio, and television, including PBS. His expertise includes programs, government policy, retirement planning, insurance, family finance, home ownership, and loans. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and a master’s degree from Wright State University in music education.
Learn about our editorial policies
What is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday refers to the e-commerce term that follows the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Similar to traditional stores on Black Friday, online retailers typically offer special promotions, discounts, and sales on this day. Traditional stores often provide exclusive online-only deals on Cyber Monday. The trend indicates that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have merged into a shopping experience that combines in-store and online shopping, blurring the lines between the two days.
Key Takeaways
- Cyber Monday is the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
- It is the second-largest shopping day and the biggest day for online sales.
- The term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, the online branch of the National Retail Federation.
- Although Cyber Monday originated in the U.S., it now occurs in other countries as well.
- The Black Friday/Cyber Monday movement has inspired other special days, including Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday.
Understanding Cyber Monday
Thanksgiving is considered the start of the holiday shopping season in the United States. The season is marked by Black Friday, which occurs the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday tends to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Another important day for retailers is Cyber Monday, which takes place on the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday.
The term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, the online branch of the National Retail Federation (NRF). It was created as a way to encourage consumers to shop online. The trade association noticed that online purchases often spiked on the Monday after Thanksgiving in previous years. Since its inception, online stores began offering significant discounts to consumers.
Traditional stores also joined the event, dedicating increasing amounts of time and effort to online sales to compete with one another and with their online rivals. It is not uncommon for stores—whether online or traditional—to start offering deals before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Consumers enjoy Cyber Monday for several reasons. Many people do not want to spend time away from family during the holiday just to snag a deal, while others do not want to wait in the long lines that form on Black Friday. Cyber Monday provides consumers a convenient, hassle-free way to shop and take advantage of some great deals. With most stores now offering free shipping as an incentive to shop on Cyber Monday, it makes online shopping even more appealing.
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Although Cyber Monday originated in the United States, it has now become a global concept. Many e-commerce companies around the world use this term to market promotions and boost their sales during that time of year.
History of Cyber Monday
As mentioned above, Cyber Monday was created by Shop.org, a division of NRF, in 2005. They noticed that consumers generally tend to shop online after Thanksgiving. There were a few different theories about why this happens.
One theory suggested that people see items in stores and shopping malls over the weekend but wait until Monday to purchase them at work when they have access to faster internet-connected computers.
Another theory attributed this phenomenon to the bad experiences caused by the Thanksgiving holiday. If you’re looking to get some great deals, you could skip the family meal, camp out in the parking lot of your favorite store, and fight through a crowd of deal hunters at dawn on Black Friday. Or you could get out of bed on Monday morning, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and browse the web for some really low prices.
Consumers embraced Cyber Monday. Sales soared from $484 million in 2005 to over $11 billion in 2022. We will explore more numbers related to Cyber Monday in the next section.
Black Friday remains the busiest shopping day of the year even though Cyber Monday sales surpassed those of Black Friday in 2020. This was largely due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Milestones of Cyber Monday
With its official naming, Cyber Monday became designated as a day for deals and discounts, enhancing its popularity. It had an almost immediate massive impact. Here are some key milestones associated with Cyber Monday:
- 2005: Sales reached $484 million. By 2010, these figures surpassed the billion-dollar mark.
- 2011: CNBC first reported that Black Friday and Cyber Monday had merged into one Thanksgiving shopping holiday.
- 2016: Most major retailers extended sales from Cyber Monday into a full week, offering a refreshed list of deals over several days. Amazon led this movement followed by Kohl’s, which extended its online sales until December.
- 2019: Cyber Monday sales reached $9.4 billion. Adobe Analytics projected $9.2 billion in sales, but this figure increased due to late-night shoppers taking advantage of online deals.
Cyber Monday during the COVID-19 Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, consumers shopped online during Thanksgiving more than ever, even though Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year. Digital Black Friday sales hit $9 billion, and Cyber Monday sales approached nearly $10 billion.
About 30% of shoppers said they planned to shop Cyber Monday sales, compared to 24% of shoppers planning to shop on Black Friday. The pandemic likely played a significant role in this outcome. In 2021 and 2022, Black Friday regained prominence, including in online sales.
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Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cybermonday.asp
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