Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is a shopping holiday which falls on the Monday following Thanksgiving. It is a day in which retailers often give enormous discounts to online shoppers.
United States (Observance)As a result, tens of millions of shoppers shop on this day in an attempt to get the best deal for themselves or to get the best gift for holiday shopping Season. Although it was once thought of as a strictly American holiday, it is now celebrated all over the world.
History of Cyber Monday
It is believed that the term Cyber Monday was first coined by the Senior Vice President of the National Retail Federation for the 2005 holiday shopping season. This term was coined because research had shown that one of the biggest online shopping days of the holiday season was the Monday right after Thanksgiving.
It was theorized that Americans would window shop on Thanksgiving and then on the following Monday, would hit the Internet looking for the products they saw at brick and mortar stores and buying them at discounted prices online.
While this shopping holiday originated in the United States, it has since spread all over the world. Now it is celebrated not only in North America but also in Asia, the Middle East, South America, Australia and Europe.
A current belief is that Cyber Monday is leading to the decline of Black Friday as more and more consumers decide to do their shopping online. This is either due to convenience or because prices are generally lower for merchandise purchased online.
Cyber Monday Customs & Traditions
Cyber Monday is not a public holiday and isn’t observed in the U.S on either the state or federal level. Which means that all businesses that are normally open on this day are open as usual. Unfortunately, some of the consumers who are looking for bargains on Cyber Monday, and have to work that day, do it from their office Internet connection.
This has led to many employers having to terminate employees who were shopping from their work desk on Cyber Monday. One study that was done recently, even states that as many as 1 out of 5 employers had to fire at least one of their employees because they were using the companies’ Internet connection for non-work related activities.
United States (Observance)
