Americans bought more than $3 billion worth of goods on Cyber Monday, a leading survey showed, as bigger-than-expected discounts and strong demand for electronics and toys added up to the biggest ever day for USA online sales.
Advertisement
People make purchases inside Macy’s department store. The name was also a nod to online shopping being done at work where faster connections made it easier to browse.
Shopping through mobile devices soared on Cyber Monday, accounting for more than a quarter of the $3 billion (roughly Rs. 19,954 crores) in sales, but many online retailers struggled to get visitors using smartphones and tablets to shop as much as those using desktops. Retailers – traditional and electronic – are now offering bargains earlier than ever. While their brick-and-mortar locations were closed, its website remained live, attracting 25 percent more visitors and business that it had just a year ago according to Geek Wire. These times of the day drove revenues that were 184% and 188% higher than the average revenue per hour during Black Friday.
Amazon itself said sales of its electronic gadgets more than tripled over the entire Thanksgiving weekend, with the Fire tablet its top-selling product.
The main takeaways from all of this are that Black Friday is fading as a key shopping day (total sales for Black Friday were $10.4 billion, down 10 per cent on last year).
But as Black Friday becomes a mainstay in the retail calendar, the popularity of online shopping – specifically on mobiles and tablets – only grows.
Amazon’s year-over-year sales increases were at least 21 percent for each of the three days, while Ebay saw only a 7 percent increase for Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday and less than 2 percent on Black Friday, according to ChannelAdvisor.
Fulgoni said the results from the day showed that the “consumer economy is still healthy, and it’s looking optimistic that the success of Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday will carry on throughout the rest of the season”.
As more consumers flock to online shopping experiences, Cyber Monday is being rendered irrelevant. What’s more, following in the tracks of Black Friday, Cyber Monday eCommerce sales are noted to be up more than 16 percent.
Retailers were reportedly having issues with the sites even before Cyber Monday.
Advertisement
“I plan on scoping out the deals”, said Diane Boral, 33, from Oxnard, California, who planned to shop online at Wal-Mart, Target and other stores on Monday. She was looking for deals ranging from 20 percent to 75 percent off on items like a camera, air conditioner, tires and Christmas gifts. It also suggests that many are being pushed to shop by word of mouth, social and mainstream advertising, reaching for their phone as the quickest way to bag that bargain.
