history, according to data from Adobe Analytics. Still, Cyber Monday typically outperforms Black Friday in terms of sales: Black Friday raked in $9 billion in 2020, while Cyber Monday hit $10.8 billion, making it the largest online shopping day in U.S. “Since Cyber Monday occurs during a typical work week rather than a holiday weekend, employees may have to squeeze their shopping around their lunch hours or breaks,” said Carol Kaufman-Scarborough, PhD, professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business - Camden.
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But Black Friday has the holiday factor, which experts told us can be easier for those in the workforce who may not have time to dedicate to shopping during work hours. In 2020, the average discount rate started at 28 percent on Thanksgiving Day and grew modestly throughout the week, ending with 29 percent on Cyber Monday, according to Salesforce data.Ĭyber Monday’s very appeal lies in the convenience of online shopping, or the ability to add an item to your cart and check out in minutes. It typically hosts the deepest promotions of any other day during Cyber 5 - but only by a small margin. Cyber Monday edges out Black Friday for “the highest overall discounts online,” said Young. Is one generally better than the other? It depends, experts say. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, was coined by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in 2005 and born as the internet’s counterpart: It was an “alternative to the madness” of the large crowds and long lines, and a way for retailers to “prolong demand and urgency beyond just Black Friday, offering additional deals online as people headed back to work,” said Young.
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Shopping The origin of Black Friday - and its future Black Friday versus Cyber Monday: What’s the difference?īlack Friday originated to lure shoppers into stores the day after Thanksgiving, which many businesses offer as a paid holiday. To help you prepare for these major shopping days and make sense of the immense number of sales, we consulted retail experts about the main differences between Black Friday and Cyber Monday - and the types of deals you can score during each one. The main deals, however, occur during what’s popularly known as the “Cyber 5,” which runs from Thanksgiving Day through the Monday after the holiday (some experts consider this five-day period “Cyber Week,” as well). Retailers aren’t confined to hosting sales on a particular day, either: Some Black Friday deals can start as early as October, while Cyber Monday can extend into “Cyber Week” with additional sales, experts told us. With more shoppers turning to online shopping, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer limited to in-store or online sales, respectively, as merchants extend in-store Black Friday promotions to their online stores. In recent years, though, the line between the two has blurred. In tandem with the online shopping boom of recent decades, Cyber Monday was introduced as a way for e-commerce retailers like Amazon to capitalize on holiday discounts and, in turn, an excuse for retailers to expand their biggest sales events of the year. But until recently, it remained a largely brick-and-mortar phenomenon, said Jessica Young, associate director of research at Digital Commerce 360. Black Friday is synonymous with some of the biggest sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, with retailers and shoppers planning for those doorbuster deals after the Thanksgiving leftovers are put away.