Deals and promotions: those who want to take advantage of mega holiday sales online will have an appointment with their computer keyboard on Monday, December 2, 2024 for “Cyber Monday”. But why is this day so notable?
The marketing term “Cyber Monday”, initially popularized in the United States, refers to a day when consumers are encouraged to make online purchases on the Internet, while merchants post discounts on their websites.
When is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday usually falls on the Monday following Black Friday, which itself follows the American Thanksgiving festivities, on the fourth Thursday of November each year.
This year, Black Friday will be held on November 29, 2024, which means that Cyber Monday will be held on Monday, December 2.
Where does Cyber Monday come from?
Cyber Monday began in 2005, when the National Retail Federation (NRF) reportedly identified a surge in sales on the major Monday following “Black Friday” in the United States, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
This was simply because many consumers, who had started their holiday shopping over the weekend, continued it at work the following Monday, to take advantage of a better Internet connection than that of most households of the time.
Agence France-Presse
If Black Friday is associated with a boom in in-store purchases, Cyber Monday was quickly taken over by merchants to promote their mega online sales.
Why the name “Cyber Monday”?
The name “Cyber Monday” first appeared in an NRF press release in the United States in 2005.
Initially, the NRF wanted to call it “Black Monday” to keep it consistent with the frenzy of the previous Friday, but the name carried a negative connotation after being used to designate the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987.
After black, the Federation instead considered the name “Blue Monday”, in reference to the color of hyperlinks on the Internet, but settled on the terms “Cyber Monday” because of the sad connotation associated in English with the expression “Blue Monday”.
Black Friday or Cyber Monday: the most popular?
Today, Cyber Monday no longer resonates with consumers as much as it used to, due in particular to the evolution of technology and access to high-speed Internet from home.
Last year, for example, Black Friday attracted a 31% increase in spending in Quebec, and 23% across Canada, unlike Cyber Monday which only recorded an increase of 2% in province and 5% in the country, according to Moneris data.
Among Quebecers, Cyber Monday even noted a drop of 3% in the number of transactions that day, but an increase of 4% in the size of transactions, which can be explained by the fact that customers tend to spend more to get free shipping, again according to Moneris.
