But as online shopping grows more popular on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, that’s causing less of a frenzy on Cyber Monday, too. But does that term really make sense anymore?
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The name “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s online arm, called Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online.
The first two days of the holiday sales season have underlined the growing dominance of online purchases.
Other hot products at the start of holiday shopping included 4K ultra-high-definition televisions, video game consoles and tech accessories. The information highlights the melting away significance of Black Friday, which until a couple of years back commenced the Christmas shopping season, as more retailers begin marking down prior in the month and open their entryways on Thanksgiving Day. The Custora E-Commerce Pulse, which gathers data from more than 200 online retailers, said online sales on Black Friday grew by 16.1 percent, with 36.1 percent of those sales made with mobile phones. And because we all go online to buy stuff, retailers offer big discounts and sales for online customers – which encourages more of us to go online to buy more stuff.
The retail giant is introducing new deals every 10 minutes as part of its Cyber Monday offering which it has extended until Friday.
And USA Today has a whole list of deals it found on various websites, everything from space heaters that look like your favorite football team’s helmet, to half off on those self-balancing hoverboards.
Discount sellers such as TJ Maxx and Ross Stores Inc, as well as J C Penney Co Inc and Toys R Us Inc performed well, said analyst Burt Flickinger, whose Strategic Resource Group surveyed shoppers all weekend. Of those who shopped in stores over the weekend, 73% (74.2 million) said they shopped on Black Friday.
Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White said holiday shopping trends “play right into Apple’s hand”.
ShopperTrak executive Kevin Kearns said that doesn’t mean Black Friday was a bust for retailers.
Black Friday sales soared on portable devices.
“We recognize the experience is much different than it used to be as just as many people want that unique, exclusive online deal as they do that in-store promotion”, NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. Additionally, Thanksgiving Day sales dropped to $1.8 billion from more than $2 billion past year.
“Shoppers are researching products ahead of time, targeting their store visits, and arriving in-store with the intention of making a purchase”, Kearns said.
NRF said the findings from this year’s survey were not comparable to a similar survey conducted last year due to a change in methodology.
Meanwhile, online sales increased 17 percent during the four-day weekend to more than $8 billion, according to Adobe. Sales at these outlets have received negative publicity because of fights breaking out during this period.
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Research firm ShopperTrak found even the turnout for Thanksgiving was lower than what it was a year ago.
