Cyber Monday Effect Spreads In The US As Shoppers Spend When Shops Are Closed

The sharp increase in online shopping on Cyber Monday is beginning to spread to other days as consumers use their mobile devices to shop when they please.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, which lands a week later this year than in 2012, is traditionally seen as the busiest online day as shoppers place the Thanksgiving festivities behind them and focus on Christmas.

But shoppers armed with smartphones and tablets are no longer tied to their PCs and so many are expected to begin their Christmas preparations over this weekend.

The effect is likely to repeat itself on Christmas Day in Britain when shoppers will thrust themselves into the January sales frenzy.

Evidence of an extended online buying period emerged last year, according to the Business of Fashion website, quoting ComScore statistics. 


Growth in spending on Thanksgiving Day increased 32 per cent versus 18 per cent in 2011. Conversely, the growth in spending on Cyber Monday, which will this year fall on December 2 in the US, slowed to 17 per cent compared to an increase of 22 per cent the year before. ComScore expects the trend to accelerate this year as the adoption of tablets becomes more prolific.

Amazon is this year heavily promoting its 'Black Friday Deals Week' which focuses on luring shoppers over Thanksgiving and on Black Friday, which is billed as the day US retailers go from an operating loss to making a profit. Others including Wal-Mart, Target, Macy's and Sears are also offering pre-Black Friday deals to entice shoppers in the days ahead of the big US shopping day.

Wal-Mart: Fishing For Shoppers
Ahead Of  Cyber Monday

'It now becomes more of a bell curve, where things start much sooner and end later,' Steve Yankovich, Ebay's vice-president of innovation and new ventures told BoF.

Online holiday sales in the US, which include Thanksgiving and Christmas, are expected to rise 15 per cent to $82 billion this year. That compares to an expected 3.9 per cent increase in total sales to 602 billion, according to the country's retail trade body the National Retail Federation.