Cyber Monday, I know, it’s all you’ve been hearing about for the last week and a half. It’s like Black Friday for retailers but for online retailers, we get it.
It’s been all over the news. But, was it all just a bunch of media hype? According to a recent article on BusinessWeekOnline, Cyber Monday is not nearly the biggest online shopping or spending day of the year.
ComScore Networks reported Cyber Monday ranks only as the 12th biggest online shopping day. A majority of online retailers had specified Nov. 22 as their “big” day. Others have noticed a strong online buying trend between Dec. 5 and 15th, later in the season.
This isn’t to say Cyber Monday was a failure by any means. It was a promotional marketing tactic to rev up consumers. Even Executive Director Scott Silverman of Shop.org, the association for retailers that sell online, which coined the term and the day, says Cyber Monday, “was an opportunity to create some consumer excitement.” I’m not sure if it created the kind of consumer excitement that forces one to spend money. But, many online retailers piggybacked off this promotion holding their own “Cyber Monday Blowout” sales, which many credit their sales to.
Looking at the numbers, Cyber Monday had an effect, but just not the effect we were all anticipating after the hype. Is it possible Cyber Monday is just another Monday for online retailers? Who doesn’t profit a little more when there’s media attention involved? Maybe the only way to continually boost online sales is to optimize your site, offer online promotions, free shipping, and permission marketing.
So, you better get ready, because Super, Super Cyber Wednesday is coming. It’s interesting too, all the PPC ads coming up under Cyber Monday. You know they almost called it Green Monday, but it was too environmentalist.
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