Internet Marketing Blog

Cyber Monday: An eCommerce Holiday At Last

November 29, 2007 – 1:08 pm

It’s made a splash for online merchants across the virtual marketplace, but many still aren’t on board. Are you?

For the uninitiated, “Cyber Monday” takes place on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is the internet retailer’s answer to the legendary discounts, high sales volume, and shopping frenzy of “Black Friday,” which has become as much an element of the holiday season as turkey on Thanksgiving and a tree for Christmas. Although the crowds willing to truck out at ridiculous hours of the morning to spend ridiculous amounts of money in an effort to get ridiculous savings make news every year, a significant portion of the population has no interest in battling cars, angry shoppers, and frazzled sales people for the “best deals of the year.”

For these people, who include my own mother and father, the internet community has developed Cyber Monday. Discounts offered on Cyber Monday may not be as dramatic as those offered on Black Friday, but they are significant enough to get renegade office workers, with Christmas shopping on their minds, to spend an hour or two on the first day back at work after Thanksgiving ordering gifts. Deals include 20% off select styles at jewelry site Ice.com, free shipping on toys at Walmart.com and Target.com, or discounts as deep as 30% off of GPS systems, televisions, and other electronics from retail chain Meijer’s newly built web portal.

And the Verdict Is….

Of course the idea of an online antidote to Black Friday is basically brilliant, but is it effective? The answer is yes. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, after all the tallies were in, that Cyber Monday had registered an increase in online shoppers of 38% and an increase in online sales of 21% over the equivalent day last year. The total sales volume in dollars was $733 million. Cyber Monday’s increase in spending was a whopping 84% over the average daily spending of users during the previous 4 weeks.

So what drove the sales dollars up this year? First of all, Cyber Monday actually got some press before hand, and online merchants promoted deep discounts more aggressively this year. On another front, people have become more comfortable shopping online for products, and are generally tired of crazy in-store holiday shopping. Better internet connections, increased security, and intuitive website designs have all contributed to this. In fact, online spending over the four weeks before Cyber Monday was up 17% over the same period last year, suggesting that increased online holiday shopping online is an overall trend, not necessarily tied only to Cyber Monday.

So, What Does the “Cyber Merchant” Do about This?

Carefully evaluate your business model. What is the best way to grab your customers? Are discounts effective or do your customers prefer more loyalty-orientated tactics such as personal letters or catalogs?

If you decide to go all out for Cyber Monday, use internet marketing to promote your discounts effectively and on places where office workers, who comprised 60% of the online shoppers for Cyber Monday this year, would be likely to see them. Also make sure your discounts get listed at CyberMonday.com, a website designed by Shop.org 2 years ago for the inaugural Cyber Monday.

Finally, be prepared for a high volume. Make sure the back-end infrastructure of your e-commerce site can handle a large volume of shoppers and that your shipping department is ready for a spike. Then enjoy the revenue.

Happy Holidays.

Special Thanks to the Associated Press and the New York Times