In 2005, the National Retail Federation came up with the term “Cyber Monday.” They claimed that people who had enjoyed their long Thanksgiving weekend with family, friends, and fellow Black Friday shoppers spent a lot of that Monday shopping online at work. Whether as part of their re-entry into the work world, to get a second chance at stuff they didn’t buy on Black Friday, or to take advantage of faster internet connections in their offices, a lot of people were shopping from work.
Was that claim true, or was it just a way for the NRF to make up a new shopping holiday? Opinion is divided. Either way, it worked. Cyber Monday is now consistently the biggest single online shopping day in America. Last year, U.S. consumers spent more than $3 billion online on Cyber Monday — more than they spent on Black Friday. Consumers also now say they plan to shop more on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday.
Is Cyber Monday an opportunity for you?
If you sell something online, it is.
Cyber Monday has melted into a long weekend of great deals. Some research has shown that shoppers expect free shipping and 30% or more off before they call a deal a good deal. However, shoppers who have already been shopping since Black Friday or before may realize by Monday that they’re not going to find that special item at deep discounts. Many will be ready to buy at more realistic prices. In fact, some surveys find that free shipping is more important than discounts for Cyber Monday shoppers.
Do your math to find out how low you can go before higher volume just means you’re losing more money.
If you offer a service rather than a tangible product, you can still offer online specials for Cyber Monday. Use an e-commerce or digital sales plug in to let visitors pay on Cyber Monday and make an appointment in the future.
Promotion opportunities
Get your social media and email marketing focused on Cyber Monday now, and you may find that you can grow your mailing list significantly. Consumer deal blogs are advising their readers to sign up for promotional emails from all their favorite companies now.
Plenty of marketers announce their Cyber Monday specials during the Thanksgiving weekend, so get contact permission ahead of time and then send out the discount push. You’ll get discount shoppers, plus opportunities to offer further promotions to more prospects in the future.
You might have noticed that you could do the sign up part even if you’re not doing Cyber Monday discounts. There’s really no reason not to.
Merry up your website
If you sell anything that could conceivably be a Christmas gift (and I’ve written for clients on why they should slip a gift certificate for cosmetic surgery into their spouse’s stocking), get some gift-y graphics onto your website before Cyber Monday. Online shopping during coffee breaks is likely to be a hurried and emotional undertaking, and seeing holiday graphics can catch visitors’ attention.
Say, if you love someone who needs to get cracking on their SEO (maybe your own company?) we’re offering 30% off all SEO strategy documents bought on Cyber Monday.
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