What Is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is an e-commerce term referring to the Monday following the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend. As brick-and-mortar stores do with Black Friday, online retailers usually offer special promotions, discounts, and sales on this day. Meanwhile, traditional retailers offer exclusive, website-only deals. The result suggests to some that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have merged into a combination of in-store-and-online shopping experiences that has blurred the distinction between the two days.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Cyber Monday is an e-commerce term referring to the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend.
  • It is the second-biggest shopping day and the biggest day for online sales.
  • The term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation.
  • Although Cyber Monday had its origins in the United States, it now happens in other countries as well.
  • The Black Friday/Cyber Monday movement has inspired other special days, including Small Business Saturday and even a day dedicated to charity—Giving Tuesday.

Understanding Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday falls four days after Thanksgiving. It was created to encourage consumers to shop online. Although Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—remains the busiest single shopping day of the year, the arrival of COVID-19, perhaps combined with other factors, resulted in $9 billion in online spending on Black Friday in 2020 and $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday.

Consumers relish Cyber Monday for several reasons. Many people don’t want to spend time away from family during the holiday just to get a bargain, while others don’t want to wait in the long lines that form on Black Friday. Cyber Monday provides consumers with a convenient, hassle-free way to shop and cash in on some great deals. And with most retailers now offering free shipping as an incentive to shop on Cyber Monday, it makes shopping online even more attractive.

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