Cyber Monday is the biggest online shopping day of the year, but how did we get here?
From Modems to Millions
Ever wonder where the term Cyber Monday comes from? The term was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation after noticing a curious pattern: online sales that spiked on the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States when people went back to work and had access to higher speed internet than they had at home.
At the time Black Friday and Cyber Monday were distinct one day events, but in the 20 years since the lines have blurred. Black Friday is no longer only relegated to in-store door busters, now Black Friday sales can be found across the internet and some starting weeks before the official date, in 2024 there was 20 million more online shoppers on Black Friday than Cyber Monday, however, Cyber Monday still had a higher spend total.
The spending season continues to grow. It now includes Small Business Saturday, which encourages shoppers to seek out local stores for holiday shopping, and Travel Tuesday, with hot deals on a variety of travel such as cruises or flights.
From Shopping Lists to Smart Lists
This holiday season is projected to reach 1.25 trillion in digital sales worldwide, the first time that online spending will outpace in-store. A major factor: artificial intelligence.
Consumers are increasingly relying on tech to help them find gifts, 68% of consumers reported planning to use digital tools (GenAi, Social Media, Chatbots…) in holiday shopping. Retailers are doing the same, fine-tuning their Generative Engine Optimization to make sure their products land in front of those shoppers first. And it’s working, Adobe predicts AI powered recommendations will drive 💲263 Billion in online sales and 💲1.6 trillion in-store sales globally this holiday season.
15% of shoppers said they will use AI chatbots to find deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this number goes up to 30% for those aged 25-34. Consumers are turning to AI to compare prices, scan hundreds of reviews in seconds, and create personalized gift ideas for the people in their lives. And it’s just the beginning. As the technology evolves it will reshape how we shop and how we live.
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