This post was updated on Nov. 30, 2018
The biggest holiday shopping weekend of the year is now behind us. But what if you weren’t prepared to battle hoards on Black Friday or to wake up in the middle of the night to place your online order on Cyber Monday before stocks would run out?
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Fear not. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday may offer the broadest across-the-board discounts, there are plenty of great deals to be had both after North America’s peak holiday-season spending spree.
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Online deals
Almost 40 per cent of Canadians do most of their shopping online, according to consultancy PwC. And much of that spending tends to happen on Monday, which is the most popular day for digital purchases not just during the holiday season but throughout the year. That’s likely because consumers get an itch to cross items off their to-do’s list when they return to work after the weekend.
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That might explain why we have Cyber Monday instead of, say, Cyber Thursday. But not all Mondays are created equal, when it comes to deals.
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Green Monday
Canadians tend to do a whole lot of shopping on the first Monday in December, according to research from Purolator’s. But it’s not clear whether that coincides with online discounts.
Instead, you might be better off waiting for the following Monday, Dec. 10, also known as Green Monday. In the U.S., that’s the second most lucrative day of the month for online holiday shopping in the U.S. with an abundance of digital bargains, according to financial advice website The Balance.
The date is becoming increasingly popular in Canada, too.
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Friday, Dec. 14
That’s what Americans know as “Free Shipping Day.” It is, essentially the cut-off for doing your Christmas shopping on your smartphone or computer without paying a premium for it.
South of the border, it’s the second-best day to save on clothing and shoes after Cyber Monday, according to deals site RatherBeShopping.com.
With Free Shipping Day catching on in Canada as well, that might hold true up here as well.
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In-store
E-commerce is increasingly encroaching on brick-and-mortar’s holiday turf, but here in Canada almost 65 per cent of the Christmas shopping will still happen in stores this year, according to PwC. Here’s what to expect beyond Black Friday:
The weekend in mid-December
While shipping charges can be steep after Dec. 15, there’s no penalty for last-minute shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. That’s why, nowadays, traditional retailers tend to try to capitalize on that advantage by luring in the procrastinators with generous deals.
Saturday, Dec. 15 will be the best day for panicked parents to buy toys, for example, according to RatherBeShopping.com.
The last weekend before Christmas and Christmas Eve
Those who cut it as close as Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 might also find good deals, as retailers try to squeeze that last few dollars out of the holiday season before the Boxing Day shopping bonanza.
This year that may be particularly so, as Dec. 22 and Dec. 23 happen to be a Saturday and Sunday.