After the turkey is carved on Thanksgiving, the mashed potato bowl is emptied and all the pie tins have been licked clean, the last thing I want to do is fight big crowds and go shopping – but for some people it’s a sport, and the Olympics of shopping occurs on Black Friday. Black Friday has reigned as the ultimate shopping day of the year until recently when a new contender stepped up: Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday has become the popular alternative to shoppers who like to relax after their turkey and get a good night’s sleep.
Over the past few years, the popularity of Cyber Monday has grown into record breaking numbers and 2011 tops the charts. In 2010, Cyber Monday was the biggest day of online shopping with sales exceeding $1 billion. According to IBM’s Coremetrics report, 2011 sales were up 33% over 2010 and up 29.3% over Black Friday.
Among those shopping online, 10.8% of people used their mobile devices to visit retailer’s sites; Apple’s iPhone and iPad topped the list for mobile device retail traffic. To capitalize on this trend, stores implemented incentives like hourly deals and free shipping, making online shopping more convenient and easy on your bank account. Retailers are realizing the impact of Cyber Monday and creating promotions to take advantage of it.
And what would a big online event be without the influence of social media sites? Facebook led the charge by dominating 86% of all social media traffic. Discussions on the popular networking site included tips about price comparison websites, online scams and in-store shopping experiences. IBM’s Coremetrics report also noted that discussions on social media sites leading up to Cyber Monday increased 115% from 2010 and referrals from social networks increased slightly from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
Personally, I can see the draw of getting your Christmas shopping done while sitting comfortably on your couch (or where ever you may be with your mobile device), but there is a certain charm to feeling the weight of shopping bags on your arms and seeing the mall Santa lift kids onto his lap. My suggested solution – get the best of both worlds and do both (just maybe not at midnight on Black Friday)!
Eve Hemsley is an Associate Account Executive at Maroon PR. Contact her at Eve@MaroonPR.com.
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