Cyber Monday – The Next Black Friday?

As promised in Thursday’s post, today we’ll be walking through the meaning of ‘Cyber Monday’ and what this means for your festive shopping. As we described on Thursday, ‘Black Friday’ originates from the USA and represents the first Friday after Thanksgiving. It’s associated with huge discounts and massive retail profits and, because of this success, has found its way to Britain. ‘Cyber Monday’ represents the Monday following ‘Black Friday’ and is an event slowly gaining support. It concentrates on increasing sales of online retailers and is pushed by discounts and promotion in an attempt to cause a second wave of sales success following Black Friday. Amazon.com’s 2013 UK Cyber Monday sales figures prove the relevance of ‘Cyber Monday’ as a major retail event. The online store took £4.1 million of orders on Monday December 2^nd 2013, £100,000 more than the previous Black Friday. Other online stores taking part this year include Tesco, Currys and Dorothy Perkins who are offering deals throughout this weekend and into Monday.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday create a major opportunity for consumers to take advantage of great offers on the run up to Christmas but their success in the UK market is perhaps a surprise. Given the lack of history surrounding Black Friday in the UK, it is perhaps surprising that retailers are committing to the event with such enthusiasm. In the US, the price cuts serve a purpose – they get Americans back into stores after Thanksgiving and officially launch the Christmas shopping season. But there are no similar pressures in the UK. So, while the promotions are great for consumers, retailers are arguably giving away Christmas sales and risk fostering a culture among shoppers that they will only buy products in the run-up to the festive season if they are discounted.

With Cyber Monday only 3 days away, will you be taking advantage of any Cyber Monday deals this year?