By Tom Bunch
Deals and sales are a huge part of the Thanksgiving holiday thanks to Black Friday, but the less known about Cyber Monday is becoming just as important. Sales for online shopping have been rising every year, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, non-traditional methods of shopping (mail order, electronic shopping, etc.) made a total of $233.7 million dollars in sales within the year 2009. Internet sales made up about 48 percentof that amount, which come to $112.8 million dollars in sales. This percent has increased every year since the Internet became widely used by the public.
Dr. Joshua Lewer, an economics professor at Bradley University, says “The four shopping days (Thanksgiving to Sunday) accounts for about $57 billion. Of that, only a small portion is online sales, perhaps 6-7 percent.” He then states that “it is a growing portion, but there are just some products that people need to ‘touch or try on.”
Roxanna Chavez, a senior psychology student from UIC, primarily shops for clothes online. She says, “I prefer online shopping because I can look at stores that don’t have a physical store near me.”
Due to the online nature of the stores, it means that anyone can create their own clothing line to sell online.
Many of these stores sell unique clothes that you wont be able to find at any other store. She goes on, “If I do (Like it) then I have something new but if I don’t then it’ll be shipped back and the money goes back to me so I don’t see it as a loss of time. I see it more as hassle free because I don’t have to wait in line or find something that doesn’t have my size, or try it on at the store, which can take forever if there is a line.”
On average, between 2003 and 2009, 61 percent of all clothes bought through non-traditional shopping methods were bought online and in 2009 the total was 75 percent.
Dr. Bob Weinstein, an economics professor at Bradley University, says, “Within the next 10 years, online purchases are likely to grow to levels exceeding conventional/local purchases. That will result in Cyber Monday having a more significant sales volume for some products in comparison to Black Friday.”
Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau
The holiday period is became more fragmented with the adoption of Cyber Monday. However, Dr. Weinstein thinks that that they will combine into one long shopping holiday. He says, “The extent of Black Friday or Cyber Monday will decline in the future. We are already seeing the forces of competition extending the start date and end date to get Black Friday ‘Deals.’ The result will be a wider time period for holiday ‘Deals.’”
In 2003 online retailers made $40.4 million, and in 2009 they made $112.8 million. The increase in Internet shopping may become the dominant form of shopping. Key factors that will decide this are “convenience, decreased time required for purchases, and lower cost in comparison to ‘in-store’ purchases” according to Weinstein.
You can find the data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau here.