Retailers are preparing themselves for what is being forecast as the biggest online shopping day in American history.
Sales are expected to hit the $6.6 billion mark tomorrow, in what is being dubbed the ‘Super Bowl of retail’, as millions of shoppers pick up a bargain online. That’s more than a billion dollars more than the $5 billion which customers spent in the Black Friday sales and almost double what was spent on Cyber Monday last year.
The first Cyber Monday was held in 2005, at a time when less than a third of consumers shopped online and many had poor connections, and would wait till they got back to work to shop on the internet. But its popularity has soared over the past 12 years and now the day dwarfs its more established rival.
Sales are expected to hit the $6.6 billion mark tomorrow, in what is being dubbed the ‘Super Bowl of retail’, as millions of shoppers pick up a bargain online
Retailers are preparing themselves for what is being forecast as the biggest online shopping day in American history (pictured is the Amazon warehouse)
Most big retailers begin advertising their online deals on Thanksgiving but most shoppers don’t actually click to buy until the Monday to ensure they have the best deal.
‘If you look at the hourly peak times for [Cyber Monday] shopping, they come between 8am and 11pm in each time zone,’ said Tamara Gaffney, strategic insights engagement group director for Adobe, USA Today reports.
‘They know that by Monday night it’s not going any lower and if they wait until Tuesday the deals will be gone. So that’s when they hit the ‘buy’ button,’ she said.
Adobe predicts that the combined US online holiday sales will reach $107.4 billion this year, a 13.8 per cent increase on last year, with overall holiday sales – including in bricks and mortar stores – will hit as high as $682 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, a four per cent rise.
The general population are surprisingly organised with almost half buying holiday gifts throughout the year. But numbers of consumers planning to do the majority of their holiday shopping tomorrow has grown to seven per cent, with ten per cent saying they were planning to buy all theirs on Black Friday, and 40 per cent planning to shop after tomorrow, TrendSource data reports.
However, there has been a trend this year, which has started to see Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals merge into one long Cyber Week which means consumers
Adobe predicts that the combined US online holiday sales will reach $107.4 billion this year, a 13.8 per cent increase on last year
Three quarters of all online retail sales occur in the last quarter of the year, when consumers get ready for the holidays
But while there are deals to be had, Cyber Monday looks like it will only grow in popularity.
“Holiday is the Super Bowl of retail,’ Rachael Ulman, President of GREATS, an online luxury sneaker retailer said.
‘People love sales and can’t get enough of them,’ added Sucharita Mulpuru, a senior retail analyst with Forrester Research. ‘Very few people are tired of sales.’
Of course, with increased sales activity, comes the increased threat of cyber crime.
‘The name of the game is to drive as much volume as possible, and to drive the largest value per transaction with each component of the volume,’ Michael Colaneri, AT&T Vice President for Retail, Restaurants and Consumer Packaged Goods, told Bloomberg. ‘And each of those transactions creates another opportunity for cybercrime.’
‘We have a portfolio of services that we deliver to retailers,’ Colaneri says. ‘That starts with a customized cybersecurity consulting engagement, where we do a complete assessment of the environment and then provide feedback and recommendations.’
We have tracked down some of the best Cyber Monday s coming to your browser from some of the big retailers.
Among the deals being touted, Walmart is selling a 58-inch, 4K Samsung television for $598 – that’s a saving of $200 – as part of its Cyber Monday online promotion. The promotion starts just after midnight on Monday morning.
Amazon is selling a Kindle Paperwhite – the backlit reading device costs $89.99 for the ad-supported one. With no ads it’s $109. Both save $30.
At Target a PlayStation VR headset, along with the Gran Turismo Sport racing game, is being sold for $299.99 – a saving of $100. The PS4 needs to be bought separately.
And at Dell, its gaming range of laptops are being sold at a discounted rate on Cyber Monday, with an Inspiron 15 5000 laptop costing $699.99, a $150 discount.
It is too soon to say whether more money will be spent on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
By 5pm Thursday, shoppers had already spent $1.52 billion, which is a 17 per cent increase from last year.
Some websites began taking online orders on Friday after putting deals online early.
Lowes, the home improvement retailer, buckled under the surge in traffic and its website crashed.
‘The site is currently offline and will be available within the next hour. Until then, we invited you to check out these other Lowes affiliated sites. Thanks for your patience,’ was the message which greeted shoppers.
It was back up and running after an hour or so.
Walmart
Vision on: Walmart is selling this 58-inch, 4K Samsung television for $598 – that’s a saving of $200 – as part of its Cyber Monday online promotion. Walmart’s promotion starts just after midnight on Monday morning
Play time: Sony’s newly redesigned PlayStation – the PS4 Slim – is available from Walmart for just $199 – that’s $50 off its usual selling price. It has the same specs as the original, but with 1TB of storage, and is 40 per cent smaller in size
X machine: For those who prefer Microsoft consoles, Walmart is also selling the Xbox One S for $189, which means it’s $60 cheaper than usual. It comes with a 500GB hard drive, and is also 40 per cent smaller than its predecessor
Now hear this: If you have to travel long distances to visit family and are worried about your fellow passengers keeping you awake, Bose’s !uietComfort 25 noise-canceling headphones could help – and at $179 on Cyber Monday, you’ll save $100
Amazon
A novel idea: Looking to escape the family’s post-Monopoly-game arguments? Lose yourself with a Kindle Paperwhite. The backlit reading device costs $89.99 for the ad-supported one. With no ads it’s $109. Both save $30
Echo location: Of course, Amazon is also the main place to pick up its new second-generation Echo smart speakers, which will cost $79.99 – that’s $20 off the usual price
Take your tablet: The new Kindle Fire HD 10 tablet offers 1080p resolution and voice-activated video control, among other features, for $99.99 during the sale – that’s $50 off the usual retail price
Target
Beat ’em up: A pair of Beats by Dre EP headphones will cost you $99.99 from Target, rather than the typical $129 – a saving of $30. They also come with a $20 Target gift card
Virtual insanity: Cyber Monday deals see Target selling this PlayStation VR headset, along with the Gran Turismo Sport racing game, for $299.99 – a saving of $100. The PS4 needs to be bought separately
Ear, ear, ear! Beats by Dre BeatsX earphones are selling for $149.99 during Target’s special deal; a saving of $50. They also come bundled with a $20 gift card
Dell
Laptop of luxury: Dell’s Gaming range of laptops are being sold at a discounted rate on Cyber Monday, with this Dell Inspiron 15 5000 laptop costing $699.99, a $150 discount
PC gone rad: This stylishly designed Dell XPS 27 has all its components built into a 27-inch screen and costs $1,649.99 – a whopping saving of $500 on the recommended retail price
Sounds good: This LG 300W sounds bar comes with a wireless subwoofer and costs a bargain $129.99 during the sale – that’s $50 less than the usual selling price