Two shopping ‘events’ now blurring together
With a dizzying surge of deals on the days leading up to, through and beyond Black Friday, some ardent deal-slingers like myself are starting to wonder if Cyber Monday is still a thing.
It’s hard to say, for sure. Black Friday was born in brickand-mortar merchants. Cyber Monday, cyberspace. Since its inception in 2005, e-commerce sales have grown sharply, from $484 million to $3.36 billion in 2017, according to analytics company Comscore. The consumer trend has clearly turned into a tradition over time. However in more recent years, the line between the two has been blurred as Black Friday has transformed into a five-day flurry of in-store and online deals.
“Cyber Monday and Black Friday are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from one another,” says Sarah Hollenbeck, retail expert with money-saving site Blackfriday. com. “Most Black Friday deals are replicated online this year and with preand post-black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, the two shopping holidays have merged to become one long Cyber Week experience for shoppers.”
Even one of the biggest perks of Cyber Monday shopping, free shipping, is offered over the long holiday shopping stretch.
“While this shift is confusing, it’s a great thing for shoppers as this means they don’t have to rush to take advantage of great sales on either day,” she adds.
While many more Americans choose to shop on Black Friday (116 million) over Cyber Monday (75 million), according to the National Retail Federation, stores still love to lasso a holiday - real or cooked-up for the sake of consumerism - with tantalizing sales so you can still expect a slew of Cyber Monday emails in your inbox. And, some of those advertised offers will be priced better than on Black Friday.
“Cyber Monday is going to be home to more sitewide discounts, specifically at clothing stores,” says Hollenbeck. “Old Navy, Gap, ASOS and even Target offer anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent off your entire purchase meaning you can save big on hundreds of clothing items without having to hunt for product specific deals like you would on Black Friday.”
Another hot category is travel. Cyber Monday is one of the best days to book bargain-priced trips
to the tropics and big-city respites at rock-bottom prices. The stickler with these deals, though says Hollenbeck, is that they tend to be date and location specific, so you will have to be flexible if you are looking to save a lot on your next vacation.
A few other standout deals on Cyber Monday include laptops, personal computers and accessories.
“You’ll find plenty of computer deals on Black Friday, it’s true, but you’ll see those deals repeated (or slightly improved) on Cyber Monday when ebay, Newegg and Amazon target tech shoppers,” says Hollenbeck.
It’s also a good day to scoop up online subscriptions and education software.
“Cyber Monday began as the online-shopping counterpoint to Black Friday,” says Hollenbeck. “So one little-known area with big potential discounts is online subscriptions. Think Audible, Udemy, Lynda and Rosetta Stone.”