Cyber Monday Is a Fake Holiday

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Because of the media frenzy surrounding Cyber Monday, look for it to be one of the biggest online shopping days - if not the biggest - vis-a-vis traffic and revenue. For the record it was never billed as the BIGGEST, just as an uptick after Black Friday and the erstwhile unofficial day the online holiday shopping season started.
I spent the better part of my working day (shh, don't tell the boss!) trolling the different Cyber Monday and found two sites to be the best: www.SuperCyberMonday.com and www.CyberMonday.com.
A few hours left for great deals...happy shopping.

Steve of TX 9:52PM November 30, 2009

It sure would be nice if more online shops actually did take part in Cyber Monday. Unfortunately none of my top online shops seem to follow it. Since I do the majority of my non-essential shopping online, it would be great if I could get the same prices online as I do in an actual store.
The problem I see most is that the online shops that do support Cyber Monday do so by offering deal coupons. Online deal coupons remind me of those seedy looking coupon sites with hundreds of posted deal coupons, some legit, most not.. ads, popups, garbage..... online coupons are a huge turnoff for me when shopping online to the point where I would rather pay full price than have to venture to one of those coupon sites.
Now if online retailers would simply slash prices, I would be interested. If large retailers started really following this fake holiday, it would be a dream come true. Unfortunately people are too greedy and too slow to even comprehend how to sell things properly online these days. Either way we're paying WAY more than wholesale on all items anyway.
Cyber Monday may not be big yet, and the stats may show that it's no different than any other shopping day, but it should be. I want savings too!
And a side note.....
"Cyber Monday is a made-up marketing term that has been promulgated by journalists looking for an easy way to write about online retail."
What does this say of the journalist writing a story on Cyber Monday about other journalists pushing Cyber Monday as an easy way to write about online retail? Hmm..

Chad 8:29PM November 30, 2009

I work in affiliate marketing and we have seen so many more deals come through this year for cyber monday. Lots of retailers are offering bigger deals that end today (11/30) at midnight, and some have deals starting today and ending Friday. while it is true that these deals are all over, a lot of people dont know that you can use a promo code on top of these savings (called "stacking") to save even more. GoPromoCodes.com is a great site to use to find coupons. Plus 10% of revenue is donated to the American Cancer Society, so you save money and money goes to cancer research.

Alison of CA 7:28PM November 30, 2009

I remember taking a college class that required current events back when all this started. I found an article back then that stated that Cyber Monday was made up to try to help boost holiday sales, and had nothing to do with anything involving people's shopping habits the Monday after Black Friday. Even then I remember reading that online shopping didn't actually peak until around the last day people could order and still be guaranteed to receive their item in time for Christmas, which is usually around mid-December!
I thought then that it was a little odd that it took until 2005 for people to start using their employers internet connections for shopping when phone companies had been offering free dial-up for years, and high speed internet was in many peoples homes via DSL or cable connections at this time, including mine, and I could afford it on a college student budget! Even then I thought if their was any truth to this, we would have heard about it years before, when people actually did have access to high speed internet only at work.

Me of AK 6:48PM November 30, 2009

Let's face it, most deals are available online nowadays and not just at Brick and Mortar stores, so Cyber Monday is sort of a big deal in that sense. I read somewhere someone camped out at Best Buy for a 42" LCD deal for about $580 on Black Friday. Well, you could really get it for about the same price online and have it delivered too.
If you know where to look, you can often get deals with or without Cyber Monday and Black Friday. I do love online shoping as it has really made it possible to avoid the crowd as well as doing product research.
One of the sites that I have been using in the past year to get some neat deals is
http://www.uberi.com
They have some pretty amazing deals (some don't last long - I suppose you snooze, you lose, which is why I just skim the site a couple of times a day to see what's out there.)
The "Amazon Discount Table" and "Free Shipping Filler" might be of interest to most people so you don't end up buying things you don't need just to get free shipping.

Denise of OR 5:16PM November 30, 2009

I have spent the morning surfing the net and looking for all those great deals. What deals are out there are duplicated at every site, and or have such specific guidelines, that in order to take advantage of them (ie free shipping) you end up buying items you really don't need. I do believe a lot of it is media hype. By the way, (big fan of Walmart) where was the great deal for Nintendo Wii for online shoppers today, Oh yeah has been out of stock since 12:01 November 30th. Will they ever get it in. Try Sams club for all those shopping for a Wii, better bundle and guess what, they have it in stock. Another consumer not taken in by the media hype.

lynn of NY 1:57PM November 30, 2009

Matthew, I think you're using this theory to give yourself unique content. All day I've been getting emails about Cyber Monday sales from retailers that I am sure I will not receive tomorrow, the next day, etc. The reason people don't take advantage of their home Internet connections over the weekend is because they are with their families and hitting the stores. Non-retail businesses are slow this time of year and people are not thrilled to go back to work after such a festive few days off, so they hit the Internet at work to extend the holiday and pass the slow time. Even if they are just browsing the sales without the conviction to buy, you can bet people are looking today. I wish you had looked into page-view statistics for online retailers on this day vs. others rather than sales. I don't think Cyber Monday is branded as such because sales are necessarily higher than any other day, but because of the offers that retailers give on this day.
That said, props to you for shedding light on the stats and providing an angle that is a little different. A friend sent me your article because I am a marketer, a writer, and an online shopping extraordinaire. You succeeded in making your content stand out - look, I'm even commenting!

Sarah of NY 12:36PM November 30, 2009

Cyber Monday Rocks, but Slippery Slope Wednesday will be better.

Jamal Brown of NJ 12:23PM November 30, 2009

More people shop in stores the weekend before Christmas than they do on Black Friday (although Black Friday is more concentrated.) Black Friday is no more legit than Cyber Monday is. Don't pretend like there's a difference! Both were invented by retailers to get people to spend more money.

Bob of PA 12:20PM November 30, 2009

I think this is true to an extent. But Cyber Monday is now a real day as retailers offer better deals specifically for this day. If you take a quick look at a site like http://GoPromoCodes.com you can see that there are a lot of deals that are available only today. And sure these retailers will offer more deals in the coming days, but until you get about a week before Christmas, these are the best deals you are going to see. So yes, the term was made up a few years ago, and I had never heard of it until I started working in online marketing, but it is now a very real day, not a holiday.

travis of CA 11:52AM November 30, 2009