Consumers in the United States spent more money online in one day, this past Monday, than they spent in any other one day in history. Online browsing and shopping resulted in $1.25 billion in sales on Cyber Monday, up 22 percent from the previous one-day record, last year’s Cyber Monday. The $1.25 billion in sales on Cyber Monday reflects the fact that more people shopped online than last year, up 11 percent, and the average shopper spent more money than last Cyber Monday, an increase of 9 percent.

When Cyber Monday was invented in 2005 by shop.org, the National Retail Foundation’s e-commerce division, it was based on the theory that more people had broadband internet access in their workplaces and would wait until sitting at their desks in their offices before shopping online after the holiday weekend.

At the time, Cyber Monday was not an event and there was no indication that the Monday following Thanksgiving was anything special in terms of online shopping activity. Retailers, however, bought into the idea and started creating marketing campaigns that encouraged people to shop on Monday.

Consumers simply followed the deals and succumbed to the hype surrounding yet another day dedicated to shopping, created by the organization that represents retailers, who obviously stand to benefit from more consumer shopping. More consumers neglected their work in the office this year to spend time browsing and shopping online than any Cyber Monday in the past, with more than half of all shoppers spending money from work.

Cyber Monday was not even the biggest day for online shopping until last year. This new holiday is an interesting story about how you can make anything you want real with enough marketing.

I’m just starting to organize my holiday shopping list. I’ve purchased a few items already but didn’t make any extra effort to shop on Monday. How much did you spend on this year’s Cyber Monday?

Photo: comedy_nose
ComScore

{ 26 comments }

From a retail perspective, this holiday weekend was successful. The National Retail Federation — an organization that represents retailers and is always happy to report good news in the industry — says that total spending over the four-day weekend from Thanksgiving to Sunday increased 16 percent over the same time period in 2010 when measured by total dollars spent. The total number of shoppers increased 6.6 percent and the average spent by each shopper increased from $365.34 to $398.62, or 9.1 percent.

Even “Small Business Saturday,” which I still see as a self-serving marketing campaign on behalf of American Express, has produced anecdotal evidence of success from mom-and-pop small business owners, while some customers have expressed frustration that some of American Express’s advertising did not clearly mention that registration in advance was necessary to receive the $25 credit.

I can’t overlook the unseasonably mild weather, at least in the New York metropolitan area, as a contribution to people’s willingness to leave the house and shop this year.

On Friday, I spent most of the day on an airplane, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark. I did not have the desire to wait outside a store in a line Thanksgiving night, the eve of Black Friday. Over the weekend, once home, I did not completely refrain from shopping. I purchased a gift for my girlfriend as we passed an item of clothing she liked, as well as a few discounted items of clothing for myself. For myself, I spent about $50 for items that normally would have cost about $100 without the “one-day-only” discount.

This past week leading up to Thanksgiving, while I was spending time with family in California, I gave into pressure and purchased myself a few toys. I grew up playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and Legend of Zelda was my favorite game. After the great reviews of the latest iteration in this series, a few in my family decided to take a look at the game. After getting a chance to play it, I decided I wanted to have a copy of my own. I find that I don’t have the time to spend playing video games, but I splurged on the game for myself, anyway — without paying full price.

I have more shopping to accomplish over the next few weeks before the holidays approach. I think giving into the retail frenzy during the days after Thanksgiving is generally a mistake. I’ve seen this happen in past years; the hottest items, even those deeply discounted during Black Friday, can often be found at even better prices later.

Before you consider me overly frugal, take note that I plan to spend quite a bit of money on myself in the near future as I continue exploring my hobbies and interests with full force as I find the time.

How much money did you spend this weekend?

CNN Money

{ 18 comments }