APPS & BOTS
Cyber Monday is one of the most important online shopping days of the year.
Cyber Monday started in 2005 as an extension of the better-known, post-Thanksgiving shopping holiday, Black Friday. Like its predecessor, Cyber Monday offers deals to those die-hard consumers, but with a little less of the risk. Buyers can shop from the comfort of their own home, without having to worry about being trampled to death or getting shot in a Toys “R” Us.
Many online retailers noticed that on the Monday after Thanksgiving, they received an increase in sales. People who had returned to work that Monday tended to shop online for what they had been eyeing in shops over the long weekend. This soon led to more online discounts, the result being Cyber Monday.
Cyber Monday generally features sales from smaller retailers, while larger retailers offer discounts on Black Friday, and usually has better deals on clothes and shoes.
Despite only being a little over ten years old, the holiday’s sales have steadily grown each year.
If you are looking to take full advantage of the day, there are several apps and programs that allow you to maximize your shopping experience, a couple of them being PriceBlink and Honey. PriceBlink is add on to your browser that allows you to compare prices for a specific product in order to find the best deal. Honey, for Chrome, looks for coupon codes and free shipping to save you money at checkout.
Although Cyber Monday is primarily a U.S. holiday, it is catching on in other countries. This year both Amazon and eBay announced that they would be bringing deals for this consumer holiday to Mexico. Amazon online deals started on Nov. 26 and will go until Dec. 3. in Mexico. Amazon Mexico’s vice president, Alexandre Gagnon said that the sales will include same-day delivery to Mexico City and the metropolitan area. And eBay will be offering discounts in Mexico starting Nov. 25 and running until Dec. 2. It will include discounts of up to 70 percent on thousands of items.