Cyber Monday gains
Early sales suggest a significant increase over last year’s numbers
NEW YORK — Millions of Americans paused during the Monday after Thanksgiving to check out online deals and check off people from their holiday gift list. But so-called Cyber Monday may be in danger of losing its online sales title.
The Monday after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest online shopping day of the year, but stores are releasing internet deals earlier, stretching them through the week, as well as making them available in stores. Shoppers l ooking for discounts spurred online sales on Black Friday to a new high.
During the holiday shopping weekend that kicks off on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, more and more shoppers decide to skip the mayhem in stores.
Cyber Monday still packs the biggest punch in terms of a single online shopping day — for now. Shoppers spent $540 million between midnight and 10 a.m. East- ern time Monday, affirming that sales are expected to total $3.36 billion, up 9.4 percent from a year ago, according to an early tally by Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks online retail transactions.
But other days are catching up. Adobe’s forecast puts Cyber Monday neckand-neck with Black Friday, when consumers spent $3.34 billion, a 21.6 percent jump from last year.
Retailers rolled out more sales on Monday: Amazon offered $40 off the normally $180 Echo smart speaker and 60 percent off a KitchenAid stand mixer, at $220 down from $550. Walmart offered $100 off a regularly priced $300 Power Wheels Disney Frozen Jeep Wrangler motorized toy car. And Target offered an extra 15 percent Sunday and Monday — both online and in stores. It offered a deal on a Samsung 43-inch flat-panel TV for $200 off its regular price of $600, plus a $50 gift card with purchase.
“The deals are better today than Friday, for sure,” said Michelle Chernicoff in Largo, Fla., who picked up an Eye Brush Set half off its regular price of $25 at Ulta.com as a gift for her sister. But she said she shops online throughout the holiday season for the convenience more than the one-day-only deals.
“I’m looking for at least 30 percent off on higher end items I’m purchasing for my family,” she said. “I have a huge family; shopping the deals between Black Friday and Cyber Monday gives me the opportunity to buy better quality items while keeping a budget.”
Online sales have also been stretching out more and more. Cartwheel, Target’s digital app, started offering holiday deals including 50 percent off one toy per day Nov. 1. Amazon started offering 35 days of Black Friday deals Nov. 16. And Walmart kicked off its Cyber Monday deals at 12:01 a.m. EST Friday for the first time as it aimed to grab customers ahead of its competitors.
Research firm comScore had predicted online spending on Cyber Monday would jump to $3.5 billion from $3.12 billion last year. The firm’s preliminary holiday shopping forecast, which includes November and December, is for online sales to rise as much as 19 percent to $81 billion.