As many of us know, or might even have experienced the infamous Black Friday this year, stores are reducing prices left and right. Many individuals did online shopping Thursday night into early Friday morning. More and more places were offering deals starting at midnight on Friday. Since technology has been on the rise in the past year and has commanded a larger crowd, there was an increase in online shopping for the holiday.
On cnn.com there are plenty of articles about all of the new electronic prices and how the Apple iPad price had even gone down to below $500 for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers. However, today, has been dubbed the name of "Cyber Monday." Personally, I don't think I've ever heard of it, but since I've become more invovled in the online world, I came across this article this afternoon.
(link to article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/11/29/cyber.monday.hoax/index.html)
CNN writer, John Sutter shares in his brief article how Cyber Monday is mostly a myth. Experts shared that in actuality Cyber Monday is no different than an average online shopping day. It is actually December 13th that is estimated (for this year) to be one of the biggest online shopping days of 2010. As stated in the article, "Some high-end retailers do hold Cyber Monday sales, he said, but some already started on Friday or Sunday and others won't begin until the second or third week in December."
The article goes on to say that the Cyber Monday term was coined as a marketing idea originially. Therefore, holding no true value to the discounts some individuals expect on the Monday after Thanksgiving. "Shop.org, which coined the term "Cyber Monday" and operates a retail website called CyberMonday.com, says nine in 10 online retailers are offering Cyber Monday deals this year." However, this was based off of 51 respondents. Many people were disappointed with the outcome of this year's Cyber Monday, holding higher expectations for better deals due to the nature of the title for this day.
The article also states that many people thought that Cyber Monday was big in the past because people were doing these purchases at work where they had access to internet. However, now that internet can be found almost anywhere - home or office computer, phone, iTouch, etc., this theory has been thrown out the window!
Lastly, I think the most interesting thing about this article is that regardless of whether it is the Monday after Thanksgiving or just a regular Monday, it is one of the biggest days for online shopping for retailers. The reasoning behind this conclusion, made by consumer electronics experts, people like to shop online while at work.
What are your thoughts? Do you partake in this Monday online shopping? Do you look for things in particular online during this time of the holiday?
What is your view on this idea of 'Cyber Monday?'
Did most of you do your online Christmas discount shopping or did you take the plunge ino the 4am shopping at Target?
Please share your experiences!
Unfortunately, the media has over-hyped Black Friday and now Cyber Monday. Sometimes, I wonder if the so-called sales are really special sales after all.
ReplyDeleteKendra, books are the only thing I buy online. I like to see what I'm buying, especially when it comes to shoes, clothes, etc. So, to answer your question--no, I did not take advantage of the Monday online shopping event. And no, I didn't go to Kohl's at 3am either.
However, I did go to Dick's Sporting Goods at about 9:30am in Virginia Beach while visiting relatives. There were some good deals there -- half price on some pieces of UnderArmour clothing. But the question is, were those items going to be marked down anyway? What I did find interesting was that there weren't very many customers in the store.
I agree with Lin concerning the idea of 'Cyber Monday' being over-hyped by the media. It is interesting to ponder whether or not these stores were going to have these "unbelievable sales" regardless of whether or not this virtually created day existed or not. Also, it is interesting to think about the fact that a lot of stores hold different sales for online shopping versus in-store shopping. Is this fair? Why should different pieces of clothing be sold cheaper in-store than they are sold online, and vice versa?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I've never really considered myself an online shopper--at most, I'l browse their websites for ideas of what I would want from the stores when I physically go into the stores. A lot of people are deterred from online shopping due to different stores definitions of sizes, not wanting to deal with returns/shipping, etc.
Other people, especially females around my age (22), feel different about online shopping and the concept of 'Cyber Monday'. One of my friends on Facebook from home posted a status stating that online Black Friday shopping is just as exhausting as in-store shopping! Also, Kendra, another instance that could serve as an example to this situation is our other roommate! She supports online shopping 100%, regardless of the season, but is adamant about purchasing more abundantly when these big sales happen (although all big sales at specific stores anytime are not considered 'Cyber Monday', you catch my drift).
So to sum it up, it may be possible that online shopping during this time of crazy sales may be due to those that are at work on Mondays--but we've mentioned that many sales start on the weekends. This leaves a lack of justification of 'Cyber Monday', overexerting the issue. I think it simply depends on what style of shopping the individual prefers, if they are tech savvy, etc. It could be due to a multitude of reasons!
Cyber monday is some garbage. Online shopping, especially when I have school work to do, is one of my favorite activities. I was extremely excited for the shopping potential that 'Cyber Monday' presents, but was extremely disappointed. The special event is just a way for stores to filter consumers into buying the objects they can't sell anytime else. The 'deals' aren't deals at all, just discounted prices for an object no one wanted to buy. I always have faith that for at least one day of the year, stores can live without selling their products for 150% markup and reward consumers with actual low prices. However, the whole ordeal is nothing more than to convince consumers to spend money on their products.
ReplyDeleteI would suspect that the Monday after Thanksgiving is such a top sales day because people couldn't find the gifts they were looking for on Black Friday. Personally there isn't anything I want bad enough to go out shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. I've started doing a lot of my shopping on-line, they usually have free shipping with a certain amount spent. I didn't order anything on "Cyper Monday" but I looked around on-line and didn't see any "savings" that I couldn't get on another day. I found the article interesting because I'd never really knew where the term Cyber Monday came from.
ReplyDeleteI see Cyber Monday as the symbolic marker of the start of the online holiday shopping season. It makes sense to me that, in the past, people did some surreptitious shopping at work, grabbing up holiday bargains online. But with workplace internet access being increasingly monitored & cracked down on, and, as Kendra mentioned, the proliferation of internet access, I would imagine that most people would be content to kick-off all of their holiday shopping—in-store or online—on the same day. I, personally, would be much more inclined to take advantage of cyber savings rather than wake up early to fight with parking & crowds in a retail setting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like many actual online bargains are out there.
ReplyDeleteAs some of you may know, I’m a big fan of online shopping. Since I passed on Black Friday this year and stayed warm and cozy in my bed after eating so much on Thursday, I was looking forward to Cyber Monday. Like other online shoppers were, I too was quite disappointed in the deals that were offered this year. With that being said, I thought I heard this on the news and also found it in an article. Despite many of us disappointed shoppers, “Cyber Monday was a historic day for e-commerce as we saw daily spending surpass $1 billion for the first time,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. According to this article, apparently the deals were in quality electronics this year, which I wasn’t really looking for anything from that department this year. To read further refer to: http://www.i4u.com/43533/cyber-monday-2010-surpassed-1-billion-online-sales.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard the term "Cyber Monday", I immediately thought it was a marketing ploy. I wasn't in the market to spend much money because I am trying to save, however I did take a peek last week and I didn't see much of a difference. It's all in the mind. Those people who saw a camera or pair of jeans go down 5 bucks are going to fall into one of two categories: optimistic to see even a slight decrease and say "Well, it's better than nothing." or feel realistic like myself and say "Some discount". I find it hard to believe that so many people do online shopping at work. The main reason goes back to a previous post of sharing private info. I feel like at work, you are constantly being monitored. Not that any of the IT guys at your job are after your SSN or credit card numbers (though, you never know), but the difficult part for me to believe is that people would risk being caught doing things and going to sites that aren't work related. Not to mention, partaking in more personal/pleasure related activities such as trying to catch deals for online shopping. I suppose every job is different, but none of the jobs I've had would allow such a thing. I may have gotten off track of the main focus, but these are my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI see Cyber Monday becoming much less of an event and much more of a marketing tool. The post is right in saying that we have internet almost anywhere and at anytime now. What's really the point of Cyber Monday except more of a tradition? Much of our shopping is done online now and it's increasing vastly across the web. With the ubiquitous nature of the web in our lives it seems that Cyber Monday will eventually become a thing of the past and a distant memory.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Eric's post! I think it is really just more of a marketing tool. Now did I get up at the crack of dawn to go shopping on Black Friday, yes!! I didn't really have anything in particular I was up for I think it was just more of the thrill of the chase!
ReplyDeleteI will be honest-I did look online on Monday to see if there were any good sales but nothing caught my eye enough for me to rush to order it!
I will tell you a funny story about my friend Kim. Kim's son wanted this camera thing from Toys R Us. She got online late Sunday night-early Monday morning. She had multiple coupons to use so she hurried and placed the toy she wanted her her cart. Then she continued shopping. When she finished and went to check out the internet told her they were sold out of the orignal toy, because she didn't pay for the toy immediately too many other people bought it first! She was HOT! She actually wrote a letter to Toys R Us and explained to them that if she had placed the item in her cart she expected that it would be saved for her. She begged them to please give her the toy at the sale price and they only offered her 10% off her next purchase! She was pretty heated! Guess that teaches us to checkout early for the "have to have items."
I feel like cyber monday and black friday are basically marketing gimmicks. In reality a savvy online shopper can find the same kind of deals available on those days at anytime during the year. Unfortunately black friday seems to be becoming more of a tradition for people, not just a money saving outing. 90% of all my shopping is done online and during the christmas season that goes up even higher. Fighting the crowds and seeing the materialism of christmas shopping gives me a far to depressing glimpse into modern america so I will continue to do my shopping in front of the fireplace.
ReplyDeleteThe only items I buy online are textbooks. I have always been somewhat of a skeptic about online purchases. I have witnessed a lot of other people buying their Christmas gifts online though. I heard that some online stores were giving out free shipping for a certain amount of time. I believe it was Amazon. This would be a great incentive for me if I chose to go that route. In addition, even if the sales are not all they are hyped up to be, Cyber Monday is genius. Consumers will visit the site searching for sales and are bound to buy something even if the sale does not exist. Maybe they won't buy what they originally wanted but I am sure they will see something else.
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