If you want to avoid the annoying long lineups and chaos at the malls, turn on your computer or mobile phone. Online Christmas shopping is coming early.
This year, retailers are taking the Monday out of Cyber Monday.
You can now add Friday, Saturday and Sunday to your Cyber Monday tradition.
The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was coined in 2005 by the American National Retail Federation’s online arm, Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online. Today, more and more consumers are loading their digital shopping carts and retail experts say shoppers won’t wait for Monday to click on a deal.
“Shoppers, they don’t care if it’s called Cyber Monday or not,” says David Ian Gray, Founder and Strategist of DIG360 Consulting. “They’re already buying on the weekend for Black Friday. They are going to keep buying on Monday. And if they see a really good deal on Friday they’re going to pounce on it online on Friday.”
Merchants are hoping to squeeze additional profit out of the shopping weekend. Online shopping has become so prevalent that, according to a new report by Vancity Credit Union, an estimated $1.6 billion in retail sales will be diverted from Metro Vancouver area bricks-and-mortar stores to online retailers this year. The report also found that 60 per cent of Canadians bought gifts online in 2014.
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For the first time, Walmart, for example, will launch Cyber Monday sales on Sunday night.
Between Saturday through Dec. 5, Amazon.com is offering thousands of so-called ‘Lighting Deals,’ which is a promotion of a limited number of discounts on an item for a short period of time. The online retail giant is also making some of its best deals available only on its mobile app. Deals can be found in the ‘app only deal’ section in the app starting Friday.
ToysRUs.com Cyber Monday deals start as early as Sunday morning.
“It’s still a fairly major marketing event. What happens with Black Friday and Cyber Monday is it’s not just one retailer promoting their items. It’s the whole industry promoting it,” adds Gray.
How Cyber Monday differs from other online sales:
So what makes Cyber Monday any different from online Black Friday sales?
“You may find some products online that are featured on that day that may not get featured on Friday,” says Gray.
Chances are you’ll find slightly different products on Cyber Monday to replace ones that have already sold on Black Friday.
Bargains are even extending to airfares and hotels.
Whether you see it as an extension of Online Black Friday or an early start to Cyber Monday , the advent of mobile phones and high speed internet means consumers have more options when it comes to getting a good deal online.
Staying safe while shopping online:
Cyber Monday can also be a big day for hackers, here are some tips on how to stay safe while you’re digital shopping.
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– Check sales, prices and shipping options to maximize your savings
– Shop from a secure computer
– Use a trusted, legitimate vendor’s site
– Review credit card and bank statements regularly during the shopping season
– Make sure the name of the URL is HTTPS. The ‘S’ stands for secure. If it only says http, do not shop there.
– If you’re shopping from a tablet or smartphone, use a trusted vendor’s app, not a web browser
– Public Wi-Fi hotpsots are not a safe place to do online shopping
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