You know Cyber Monday is a huge shopping day, but do you know exactly what time you should log on to score what you’re looking for? Here’s a breakdown of the key Cyber Monday shopping trends that online shoppers have created from 2012 until the present year.
2012
- Cyber Monday shopping peaked at 11 a.m. EST, with another strong spike at 9 p.m.
- These peaks are most likely due to commuting patterns of people working traditional hours; they shop online while at work and again when they’re home.
- Cyber Monday sales increased by 30.3% from 2011.
- 18% of online shoppers used a mobile device to shop online, an increase of more than 70% from 2011.
2013
- Like in 2012, average peak browsing time was 11 a.m. EST.
- Afternoon browsing peaked around 1 p.m.
- These numbers likely mean that shoppers were browsing during work hours and on their lunch breaks.
- Use of mobile and tablet devices nearly doubled to 30% of all site traffic.
2014
- The best deals were in the morning, with an average discount of 23%.
- 67% of all online deals were posted before 5 p.m. EST.
- Average peak browsing time was 9 p.m.
- Mobile and tablet devices accounted for 41% of all site traffic. These numbers represent a move away from lunchtime laptop (or desktop) browsing and toward “at home” browsing on mobile devices in the evening.
- Cyber Monday shopping was at its lowest at 5 p.m.
Before Cyber Monday
With more retailers offering deals on and even before Thanksgiving, we’ve seen a large uptick in pre-Cyber Monday and even pre-Black Friday shopping. So make sure you’re keeping an eye out for deals in the days leading up to Thanksgiving!
- In 2014, mobile web shopping at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day accounted for 50% of retail traffic.
- Also in 2014, the Monday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, saw a 100% year-over-year uptick in activity.
Did You Know?
- Cyber Monday sales have increased every year since its inception in 2006.
- Sales have grown by 14% or higher each year.
- In 2014, Cyber Monday was recorded as the most popular shopping day of the season.
- In 2014, retail traffic reached 13 million pageviews per minute, up 16% from 2013.
So What Should I Do?
- Know that evening is the busiest online shopping time, so you’re competing with more shoppers and items are more likely to disappear faster.
- If you’re shopping for a specific item, shop in the morning. You’re competing with fewer people and more items will still be in stock.
- Shop after 10 p.m. EST on Cyber Monday if you’re just browsing or buying a variety of items. The rush will be over and retailers just may be willing to further discount items that haven’t sold.
- Keep an eye out for deals starting the Monday before Thanksgiving — or even before. Online deals aren’t just relegated to Cyber Monday anymore!
Happy shopping!
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Sources:
https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/news/press/2015-press/akamai-releases-2014-online-holiday-shopping-trends-and-traffic-report.jsp
http://www.fierceretail.com/story/holiday-web-traffic-peaked-cyber-monday-2014/2015-03-30
https://blogs.akamai.com/2012/11/huge-traffic-volumes-on-black-friday.html
https://blogs.akamai.com/2015/04/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-rum-insights—part-i.html
http://dealnews.com/features/About-Half-of-Shoppers-Will-Buy-Cyber-Monday-Deals-While-at-Work/1484785.html
http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/01/news/economy/cyber_monday_shopping/
Prices and Cash Back Percentages are subject to change.
