Despite record levels of online spending over the Black Friday weekend, savvy shoppers still have plenty of appetite for one-day only deals that retailers have lined up for Cyber Monday, as 129.2 million shoppers say they’ll head to retailers’ websites on Cyber Monday.
According to a survey conducted for Shop.org by BIGinsight, 129.2 million Americans plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from the 122.8 million who shopped last year, and the 106.9 million who shopped on Cyber Monday in 2010. Eager to meet consumers’ demands, 85 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, according to a survey released last week.
“Whether from the couch or the cubicle, online shoppers will make this Cyber Monday bigger than ever,” said Shop.org Executive Director, Vicki Cantrell. “Retailers have honed and improved their websites, mobile sites and social media outreach to be better than ever and consumers know that come Cyber Monday, many retailers will have a slew of new promotions to help them make a real dent in their holiday shopping lists, without breaking the bank or even having to head to the store.”
The number of shoppers planning to use their smartphones or other mobile device this Cyber Monday increased to 20.4 million this year, from 17.8 million in 2011, an increase of 14.4 percent. In just three years, the number of Americans saying they would use their mobile device to shop on Cyber Monday has skyrocketed from just 3.6 million (3.8 percent) in 2009 to 20.4 million (15.8 percent) in 2012.
While the majority of Cyber Monday shoppers will make purchases from their home computer (88.0 percent, or 113.7 million people), nearly 16 million will also use their computers at work to shop this year (12.4 percent). A Shop.org survey released last week estimated that nearly 72 million Americans would shop from work at some point during the holiday season.
“The momentum from a solid Black Friday weekend certainly looks like it will carry on into Cyber Monday,” said BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director, Pam Goodfellow. “Millions of shoppers will be visiting retailers’ websites from their smartphones, tablets, home computers and work computers to check out special Cyber Monday promotions and make the most of their holiday shopping budgets.”
While many retailers expect to see sales and traffic spike over lunch hours, Cyber Monday shoppers plan to go online throughout the day. According to the survey, 44.4 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers plan to hit the web early in the morning, with more than one-third of (36.8 percent) planning to shop in the late morning. Additionally, nearly three in 10 Cyber Monday shoppers (29.2 percent) will shop in the early evening.
Retailers participate in CyberMonday.com Deals of the Hour
Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com, which features holiday promotions and special savings from more than 800 retail companies, was created by retailers as a one-stop shop for consumers looking for the best Cyber Monday promotions.
In addition to hundreds of special offers, some of which will be exclusive promotions available only on the site, CyberMonday.com will be featuring a Deal of the Hour on its front page Monday, highlighting a different retail promotion every 60 minutes. Retailers participating in the Cyber Monday Deal of the Hour include Sears.com, Under Armour, Dell Home, Kohl’s, Sephora.com, QVC.com, RedEnvelope and eBags.com. (View the full list of companies and times.) Offers will include free shipping specials, dollars off, percentages off, and free gifts with purchase.
A portion of CyberMonday.com proceeds benefit Shop.org’s Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund, which helps students pursuing careers in retail. Ray Greenly was a Vice President at Shop.org before passing away from cancer in 2005.
About the surveys
The survey, conducted Nov. 23-24, 2012 by BIGinsight for Shop.org, polled 4,005 consumers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percent.
Cyber Monday, a term coined by Shop.org in 2005, began after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, when shoppers flood websites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling holiday offers.
Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is the world's leading membership community for digital retail. Founded in 1996, Shop.org's 600 members include the 10 largest retailers in the U.S. and more than 60 percent of the Internet Retailer Top 100 E-Retailers.
