Conceived just 12 years ago, Cyber Monday has become a genuine retail phenomenon—and this year’s entry is gearing up to be the biggest yet.
As shoppers descend on retail sites like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Target, they’re expected to spend $6,6 billion online today, according to Adobe Analytics. That vastly overshadows the $5 billion shoppers shelled out online during Black Friday.
The 2017 prediction, if it proves true, will represent 16.5% year over year growth over 2016’s Cyber Monday. And retailers are offering steep discounts to ensure its success.
Cyber Monday was launched in 2005, the offspring of a naming suggestion from Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation. It was meant to showcase the then-rather-nascent shopping opportunities online, which were hampered by the prevalence of dial-up modems.
Broadband exploded, though, and so did online shopping. And while the name “Cyber” is embarrassingly outdated these days, it has stuck.
Some shopping will be done during the day, but the bulk of the online rush comes at night, says Adobe.
“If you look at the hourly peak times for [Cyber Monday] shopping, they come between 8:00 and 11:00 pm in each time zone,” said Tamara Gaffney, strategic insights engagement group director for Adobe. “They know that by Monday night it’s not going any lower and if they wait until Tuesday the deals will be gone. So that’s when they hit the ‘buy’ button.”
The best Cyber Monday deals, according to the company, will likely be on toys, which are expected to see average discounts of 19%.