You might be well aware of Black Friday and the brilliant deals (not to mention occasionally violent scenes) that it produces, but Cyber Monday is hardly any less of a fixture in the shopping calendar, albeit with one big difference: it’s an online-only affair.
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As the name partly suggests, Cyber Monday is the Monday after the United States’ Thanksgiving holiday, and like Black Friday, it has become a successful import into the UK.
This year, Cyber Monday falls on Monday 30th November, with many online retailers set to start their sales from midnight.
We’ve already got Black Friday – what’s the point?
Some might understandably ask why we really need another major date in such an already busy retail calendar at this (business) end of the year, and it’s true that the very name Cyber Monday is something of a marketing concoction, having been coined by businesswoman Ellen Davis in 2005.
However, the term was also coined in recognition of what was already becoming a major focal point for ecommerce activity, and the date has only seen ever-greater sales since then.
While it is true that both Cyber Monday and Black Friday take place online, with the latter encompassing offline sales as well, the two dates do place a slightly different emphasis on the kind of products that are sold.
Black Friday usually sees superior deals on the likes of technology, appliances and cutlery, while Cyber Monday causes more of a fuss as far as fashion retail is concerned.
What else do you need to know?
Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday has gained a lot of traction around the world, including in such countries as Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and here in the UK.
In theory, Cyber Monday should be a lot less stressful for the average consumer than Black Friday, given that there are no other people to trample all over them – indeed, repetitive strain injury from clicking through endless online deals might just be the closest that customers get to serious injury.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easy to make the most of Cyber Monday, however. For one thing, while Black Friday deals often extend well beyond Friday itself, Cyber Monday deals typically run for just 24 hours.
Make sure you take advantage of Cyber Monday 2015!
With Cyber Monday being exclusive to the World Wide Web, it makes sense to look first to online-only retailers – such as Amazon – for the best deals. Indeed, Amazon voucher codes for electronics, toys, games, sportswear, shoes and many more items can be found through the various popular online voucher sites.
Many of the other general ‘rules of thumb’ for shopping on Cyber Monday are the same as those for Black Friday. These include to set a budget in advance, take careful notice of returns and exchange policies of individual stores and factor delivery costs into the equation when comparing online Cyber Monday deals to any regular offline discounts that may still be in effect after Black Friday.
If one thing is for certain, it’s that Cyber Monday will remain a massive part of the shopping calendar for another year, with the statistics suggesting that it will be with us for many more years to come.