Cyber Monday originated in the United States and takes place on the Monday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It was created in 2005 by Ellen Davis, an e-commerce expert who analysed online shopping trends around the holiday season.
It was found that the Monday after Thanksgiving, millions of American office workers would get online at work and start their shopping. The reason for this, was that back then the speed and quality of the internet in peoples’ offices was far superior to the internet they had at home. Nearly two decades later, the day is a worldwide phenomenon, with people looking to score online deals on everything from electronics to groceries and other essentials. Today, Cyber Monday shopping at work is still the norm. The only difference is that now most people are using their smartphones and devices, and not having to rely solely on company internet.
Over the years Cyber Monday sales have reached enormous sizes, with the holiday raking in the online shoppers. Cyber Monday has set new records each year since its inception. Between 2005 and 2010, sales doubled. To put it into perspective, Black Friday sales numbers rise and fall periodically. Cyber Monday sales figures only ever rise.
With Cyber Monday numbers only getting bigger and bigger, it was only a matter of time before other countries jumped onto the “holiday”. Countries like Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Argentina, Canada, India, Portugal, Romania, Columbia, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and more! – many of these do not celebrate Thanksgiving whatsoever.
While both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now physical and online sale days, traditionally, they each started as “real world” and “online world” shopping respectively. Cyber Monday has also evolved to not just being any online sale for all categories, but now particularly focuses on gadgets, electronics, gaming, and tech-related product specials.
In South Africa, Cyber Monday is less popular than Black Friday, but it is slowly gaining traction in the country. This year it will fall on the 29th November.
