by Robin Fiedler
What’s the big deal about Cyber Monday and online shopping? Since Cyber Monday sales are by and large the same as the brick-and-mortar retail sales, the attraction is online convenience sweetened by online coupon codes, free shipping, no sales tax, easier comparison shopping, and more recently unique-to-online shoppers’ discounts. 
A few years before Shop.org named “Cyber Monday,” sometimes “Cybermonday,” the Monday sales after Thanksgiving indicated increases in holiday online shopping. Shop.org explains, “the trend of Cyber Monday was initially recognized a number of years ago, when many retailers saw spikes in sales and traffic as consumers went back to work after the Thanksgiving Day holiday.”
Retailers offered promotions and ads to draw even more traffic, and ultimately more sales. In 2008, comScore reported that Cyber Monday shopping brought in $846 million dollars, up 15% from 2007. comScore, a company that measures e-commerce statistics, claimed Cyber Monday 2008 was the second highest online sales day, “eclipsed only by Green Monday 2007 with $881 million in online spending.” Looks like a pretty profitable liaison, not just for the retailers but for the deals Monday that shoppers can snatch up.
In 2009, “reasons behind why people will spend more online range from the ability to shop at all hours of the day (41.9%) to shoppers feeling it is easier to compare prices (34.0%) to Americans’ insatiable appetite for free shipping (33.1%),” reports the National Retail Federation.
So when browsing Cyber Monday ads, be sure to search for the following offers.
Coupons - eCoupons and Coupon codes are popping up all over the net. Luke Knowles explains, “The new millennium saw internet retailers using coupons in the form of coupon codes to encourage shoppers to buy their products. These codes are also commonly referred to as ‘discount codes’, ‘key codes’, ‘promo codes’, ‘promotional codes’, ‘promotion codes’, ’shopping codes’, ’source codes’ or ‘voucher codes’. Most online coupons provided for a reduced cost, percentage discount or free shipping on orders.”
Free shipping - Free shipping coupons or offers are popular. The NRF reports, “Four out of five online retailers (79.4%) will offer free shipping with conditions at some point during the holiday season, while more than half (57.4%) also plan to offer free shipping without conditions.”
Sales Tax - Small retailers, more than the big retailers, take advantage of the fact they don’t have to charge state sales tax. A 2007 hearing on “sales Tax Fairness” in the House by the Committee on the Judiciary laments, “but there is an additional benefit that some consumers enjoy when purchasing items online: not having to pay sales taxes. Some companies actually post this on their Web sites to increase sales.”
Online Discounts - Shop.org reports, “Some companies will also be adding ‘early shopper’ discounts and ‘first time buyer’ discounts this year.” NRF notes an increase in social media ads: “more than half of retailers said they have added or improved their Facebook page (60.3%) and Twitter pages (58.7%) this year, while two-thirds (65.6%) have added or enhanced blogs and RSS feeds.”
Come Thanksgiving weekend, we may have to just check our Facebook and Twitter accounts for the hottest Cyber Monday deals.
References
“Cyber Monday.” Shop.org. 2001-2009. http://www.shop.org/scholarship/Cybermonday
“E-Commerce Spending Jumps 15 Percent on Cyber Monday to $846 Million, the Second Heaviest Online Spending Day on Record.” comScore. 3 Dec. 2008. http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2008/12/Cyber_Monday_Sales_Reach_846_Million/(language)/eng-US
Grannis, Kathy. “Online Retailers to Emphasize Free Shipping, Social Media this Holiday Season.” The National Federation of Retailers. 22 Oct. 2009. http://nrf.org/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=808
Knowles, Luke. “The History of Coupons.” Go Frugal Blog on FreeShipping.org. 26 Jan. 2008. http://www.freeshipping.org/blog/history-of-coupons/
United States. House of Representatives. Committee on the Judiciary. “Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act.” 6 Dec. 2007. Committee on the Judiciary. http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/39479.PDF
COUPON TIME
Our Cyber Monday Discount page is here–and will be continually updated as Cyber Monday approaches. Don’t miss out on the best deals.