Black Friday is the name given to the Friday that immediately follows Thanksgiving Day in the US. It marks the start of the busy holiday shopping season, and is said to be the day that most consumers will start their Christmas shopping. Although the word “black” might give a feeling of negativity, in the retail world it refers to when a business begins to show a profit. Because many shops see a huge surge in business around this time of the year, it refers to the time when there books move out of the “red” into the “black.”
Cyber Monday is the online version of Black Friday. This is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season online, and just mortar and brick retailers do on like Black Friday, online retailers offer many money-saving promotions and discounts on Cyber Monday to compete with the Black Friday savings at local shopping malls. Because shipping is sometimes an issue with online shopping, a large number of online retails also give free shipping along with the greatly discounted goods. Cyber Monday begins on the Monday following Thanksgiving, so therefore it falls three days after Black Friday.
In recent years, the term “Black” Friday has become more fitting as every year there are many incidents of violence and accidents occurring in shopper malls. Walmart seems to be the store that is most commonly involved, as shoppers riot to get their hands on the best Black Friday deals. In 2008, a Black Friday Walmart stampede left one person dead and a pregnant woman ended up in hospital. Aransas turned into what appeared to be a screaming herd of uncontrollable wild animals over some waffle makers that were on sale at $2 apiece. For this reason, and others, it is hardly surprising many shoppers are choosing to forego the Black Friday sales and are instead waiting until Cyber Monday to do their Christmas shopping in a peaceful and dignified manner.
Check out this video with important shopping tips:
Cyber Monday 2011 Statistics
Cyber Monday 2011 saw retail sales go up a whopping 22% over Cyber Monday in 2010. It is estimated that retail sales online reached a whopping $1.2 billion. As usual, the most popular items were tech gadgets with the iPhone, iPad and Android devices being the most sought-after. A survey conducted by the National retail Federation found that almost 10,000,000 American shoppers would purchase something online on the day of Cyber Monday 2011. Around half of them of them said they would shop from work during their lunch hour, and in the event that this would not be possible they planned to start their shopping immediately when they finished work.
Cyber Monday online shopping has become somewhat of a headache for bosses. Since Cyber Monday is not a national holiday, shopping online from work is the only alternative for many people; many of the best offers are in limited supply, and waiting until the evening would be too late to get the best bargains. Needless to say, most bosses are not too happy about this as they do not want to pay their workers to do personal shopping. Many bosses are finding ways to block Internet access to shopping sites on Cyber Monday, and although others don’t go this far they do carefully monitor their staff during working hours. It is estimated that 5% of bosses have actually fired a worker for doing their holiday shopping from work, although this is not necessarily a figure that relates only to Cyber Monday. Surveys have found that 55% of workers managed to make a purchase from work during Cyber Monday 2011.
List of websites with facts and statistics about last year Cyber Monday:
There are many interesting facts emerging about shoppers habits during Cyber Monday 2011. It is estimated the average online order was for $193. Many of these items are tech-related and the BlackBerry 32 GB PlayBook sold at a rate of 75 units every hour. The Acer Aspire 15.6 inch notebook sold out in two and half hours. It is estimated that UPS delivery service take on 50,000 temporary workers to cope with the rush over the holiday shopping season.
Best Cyber Monday Deals 2011
- Best Buy – http://www.bestbuy.com
Generally, Best Buy Cyber Monday deals 2011 in the tech department were quite disappointing. The exception to this is a 55-inch LED, 120 Hz Samsung TV, which could be purchased at $999.
They also offered the monochrome Nook Simple Touch at a price of $79, which was $20 cheaper than the regular price.
They had some Apple 15 inch MacBook Pros available at $200, which was $150 cheaper than usual. However, supplies were limited.
If you ordered items worth more than $100, and were prepared to drive to your nearest local store to pick them up, you were given a 10% gift card.
In the non-tech department, consumers can purchase a Samsung 28 cu Ft 4 Door Refrigerator for $1,799, a saving of $1200.
- Dell – http://www.dell.com
Dell had some great Cyber Monday, 2011 deals, which included a 46-inch Sony Google 1080p TV priced at just below $800. As the normal price is $1400, this was a huge saving of $600. You could also get $80 off a Dell 22-inch LED ultra-thin monitor. This usually was priced at $220, but on Cyber Monday, you could purchase it for just $140. The Dell V715W, which is an all-in-one printer was reduced by $70 to be priced at $99.99.
- Office Depot – http://www.officedepot.com
Office Depot had some interesting Cyber Monday deals, which included the very popular Asus 15.6 inch laptop. On Cyber Monday 2011, you could purchase this for just under $350, whereas the regular price was $500. Another popular Cyber Monday deal was the 15.6 inch Toshiba satellite notebook, which regularly sold for $430, but on Cyber Monday was priced at just below $300.
- Walmart – http://www.walmart.com
Walmart, the home of many Black Friday incidents of violence were offering a 47-inch LG LED 1080p TV for just $879. The regular Walmart price was $1200. The Apple 3G iPad 2 was not so heavily discounted, as it regularly sold for $729, but on Cyber Monday you could purchase it for $688.
Many of the 250 items that Walmart discounted exclusively online included non-tech related goods. A Tramontina Dutch Oven was offered at under £40, a saving of around 20%.
For the kids, a Disney Cars Lightning McQueen Talking Feature Chair was priced at under $20, where as it usually retails at around $35.
The Oral B Electric Toothbrush was offered together with bonus Crest 3-D Whitestrips for under $40, a saving of around 15%.
Walmart deals were offered while stocks lasted throughout the week, and were not just specific to Cyber Monday.
- Newegg – http://www.newegg.com
Newegg was the first stop for many tech and gadget enthusiasts with their great selection of Cyber Monday deals.
This website offered a 42-inch LG 1080p LED TV for just under $500 when they usual retail price was $799. A Dell Inspiron 15.6-inch notebook was reduced by $250 to $499.
- Amazon – http://www.amazon.com
The world’s biggest online retailer, Amazon.com disappointed many consumers as they did not offer a deal on the Kindle Fire. However lucky shoppers were able to pick up a big-screen Kindle DX for $259, which was a considerable drop from the usual $379. Another popular deal was the Canon Powershot 10-megapixel digital camera which was reduced to $291 from $399.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Bundle, which included the games Fable III and Halo Reach, was up for grabs at $199, a saving of $100.
Amazon also offered many non-tech Cyber Monday deals such as the Mercer Cutlery Genesis 6-Piece Knife Set for just below $100. This normally retails at around $250 on Amazon. The Panasonic Linear Vortex Shaving System was another great buy, as $171 was knocked off the retail price and it was available for just below $80.
If you bought shoes on Amazon that cost more than $75, you were given 25% off, and there were also many good deals in the apparel department.
Smartphones were available from Amazon for just $0.01 for anyone who was prepared to sign a new contract for two years. This was only available for people who were prepared to switch carriers. The iPhone was not included in the deal.
Like several other online retailers Amazon were offering their deals all through Cyber Monday week, or while stocks lasted.
- Target – http://www.target.com
Target had good Cyber Monday 2011 deals and many people took advantage of the opportunity to pick up a Samsung 40-inch 1080p LED TV for $700, which was a saving of $500. The LG 50-inch 720p Plasma TV was reduced by $200 and could be purchased for $549.
You could pick up movies at Target on Cyber Monday 2011 from $3.99. They were also offering between 30 and 50% off toys, as well as buy-one, get-one-free bedding and pillow sets.
- Toys “R” Us – http://www.toysrus.com
The kid’s favorite toy giant started its Cyber Monday promotions on the Sunday before Cyber Monday, and customers were offered free shipping on all goods throughout the whole of Cyber week. Many items were discounted by around 25%, and they also offered a “buy one and get 60% off” deal on hundreds of video game titles.
If you bought a Xbox 360 with Kinect for $299 you could also choose between a free game, headset or controller.
Justin Bieber fans could buy a Justin Bieber doll for 20% cheaper than the usual price.
- Home Depot – http://www.homedepot.com
The do-it-yourself home improvement giant Home Depot had many items with a 75% discount on Cyber Monday 2011.
Other popular items included a Dyson multi floor bagless vacuum cleaner, which could be purchased for $318. Home Depot usually sells this product for around $400.
A Maytag French Door refrigerator cost just under $1200, where as the usual price is about $1600.
- Sears – http://www.sears.com
On Cyber Monday 2011, Sears offered web-exclusive deals on many items including diamonds, power tools, digital cameras, and more.
A great buy was a sterling silver 0.18ctw diamond stud earring for $49.99, a saving of $150.
NordicTrack ACT Elliptical was priced at just $750, whereas the original price was $1300. This was also delivered free to all purchasers.
A GE Create 12MP digital camera could be bought for $49.99 which is $80 cheaper than the usual price.
- Jewelry – www.bluenile.com
Jewelry sales are among those that see incredible increases during the holiday period. It is thought that during Black Friday and Christmas, jewelry stores make around 40% of their annual revenue, compared with 19% of other retail stores.
In 2011, during Cyber Monday week Bluenile.com offered $200 vouchers for just $100 to be exchanged for merchandise. Kohl’s cut 20 percent off all their products site-wide if you entered a coupon code. This was in addition to other discounts already offered.
- Travel – www.hotels.com
Travel deals are also popular among Cyber Monday online shoppers, and in 2011 you could get up to 50% off certain hotels on hotel.com. The hotel company Marriott were offering 15% off Marriott hotels worldwide, and also throwing in a free breakfast. Expedia and group on getaways offered up to 60% off specific vacation packages and hotels. The Best Western hotel group was given away between 10 and 30% off vouchers as an Internet only discount.
Stay Safe when Shopping on Cyber Monday
As always when shopping online, make sure you are not a victim of Internet fraud. Cyber Monday presents con merchants with a great opportunity to rip off unsuspecting online shoppers. If you’re going to click on a link in an e-mail, make sure you know if it was sent by a reputable person or company that you have previously corresponded with. One way to spot spam e-mails sent around Cyber Monday is they will offer incredible discounts, and you may find the website you land on is a very good copy of a well-known retailer online.
Do not enter your credit card details on any site that does not have SSL security. You can check this by looking at the address bar in your browser. It will usually begin with “http”. However, over a secure connection the site address displayed will begin with “https”.
Happy Cyber Monday Shopping!