Photo by Craig Dugas.
Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, has been a growing shopping phenomenon that caps the first weekends of holiday shopping. Each year for the past several years, annual sales on Cyber Monday have increased by double digits.
Unlike Black Friday, when deals are found at local stores with early morning opening times, large crowds, and limited quantities, Cyber Monday sales are offered by online retailers, where there are no crowds or a need to leave your home or workplace.
Here are several reasons why you might want to make Cyber Monday your big shopping day next year.
Your Time Is Valuable
Every Thanksgiving evening, news reporters cover the long lines that form outside stores, full of eager shoppers looking to save hundreds of dollars, usually on electronics. Some shoppers camp out for days before the event.
But is it worth setting up a tent outside an electronics store days before a sale, just to save a few hundred dollars? Your time is more valuable than money, and even a few days of work at a minimum wage job will certainly be worth more than a couple hundred dollars’ savings on an electronic device. Not to mention a job doesn’t require a 24/7 commitment outside in November.
If someone camps out for Black Friday for the experience that they enjoy, that’s great for them. But if you want to get great deals and keep your life moving forward, Cyber Monday gives you that opportunity without having to sit outside in the cold for hours, days, or weeks beforehand.
Family Matters
Thanksgiving is a family-centered holiday. The massive traffic issues we experience before and after the holiday weekend have to do with people going home or to visit relatives. So why do we rush to wait outside a big box store Thanksgiving night (or go shopping that evening) in lieu of spending time with those family members who have made the trip to get together?
There is another side to this issue too: store employees. In their race to one-up each other, stores have been opening earlier and earlier each year – this year three major chains all were open for shopping on Thanksgiving. The employees had to miss Thanksgiving celebrations with family to sell goods for their employers.
Shopping on Cuber Monday, which is a regular working day, favors companies that let their employees have time off to be with their families.
Things Can Get Ugly
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Black Friday tragedies of past years – shootings, violence, and even deaths in the shopping hysteria. This year was no exception.
The tag #WalmartFights was trending on Friday on Twitter, with tweets, pics and videos of citizen journalists cataloging the chaos. In one picture, an ambulance was photographed outside a store. Several videos depicted fights. In Virginia, a man was stabbed in a dispute over a parking spot.
The history of Black Friday violence shows no favorites. There is no way of knowing where or when the next incident might erupt, and security, staff, and police have a difficult time preventing or quickly addressing them all.
Despite the millions of people shopping for things online on Cyber Monday, there are no crowds, and no fights over limited supplies of items.
Best Timing And Deal Are Online
In the age of technology, online retailers are quickly gaining an advantage. While physical stores, known as ‘brick and mortar’ stores, must have printed ads laid out and ordered weeks or months in advance, online stores can announce sales with little to no notice.
In fact, online retailers can often match Black Friday sales or offer a better deal based on customer reactions, online discussions, and competitor’s advertising that cost much more.
Many online stores are also able to serve millions of customers from a single location, by using a smaller staff and less operating costs, making them more competitive than bigger chain stores.
What is your favorite day to go shopping after Thanksgiving?
