Cyber Monday 2015: Online Shoppers Can Actually Find Better Deals Outside Of Monday’s Online Bonanza, Experts Say


Cyber Monday could hit a record in 2015, but shopping experts say stores are actually starting to offer better online deals at different times during the holiday shopping season, giving shoppers more work to do if they want to find the best deals.

Late last month Adobe released its 2015 Digital Index Online Shopping Prediction, predicting that online sales will jump 7 percent from last year to reach $83 billion for the entire season, including a record breaking $3 billion on Cyber Monday 2015.

But the report predicted that Cyber Monday isn’t actually the best day for a lot of sales, even if it will draw in a lot of revenue.

Adobe’s predictive commerce model also projects that shoppers will find the lowest overall online prices of the season on Thanksgiving Day, with an average discount of 26 percent, but out-of-stock incidents will also increase by 83 percent that day. The best time to buy based on price and product availability will vary by product category. Saturday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21) will offer the largest, single-day price drop for toys, with an average discount of 18 percent. The best deals for electronics (18 percent discount on average) will be offered on the Monday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 23). For jewelry, discounts will peak at 25 percent on Thanksgiving Day, while apparel items will be discounted throughout the season.

Tamara Gaffney, Adobe’s principal research analyst, said the average internet shopper will spend $305 in November and December, including an average of $11 on Cyber Monday 2015.

As the Christian Science Monitor noted, what was once a concentrated day of shopping on Black Friday has now become something closer to the “Black Friday season,” with deals starting weeks before Thanksgiving and stretching through early December.

In fact, a growing number of stores are now offering their Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving evening, barely enough time for the leftover turkey and stuffing to cool. In turn, Cyber Monday 2015 has turned into Cyber Monday Week, the report noted.

The Christian Science Monitor published a handy guide (which can be found here) showing what is the best day to buy a given item. Some things, like Android phones, cameras, and televisions, are best to buy on Thanksgiving Day itself. Others, like headphones, iPhones, and speakers, will have the best deals on Black Friday.

The report also breaks down all the products shoppers should be looking for on Cyber Monday 2015. They include: toys, travel, appliance, clothing, shoes, and beauty products.

The report concluded that if shoppers have just one day to get out, they should skip both Black Friday and Cyber Monday and opt to go out on Thanksgiving.

“Of course, these Thanksgiving deals are really just early Black Friday deals,” the report noted. “With many stores choosing to start Black Friday sales on Thursday, there’s little wonder that this holiday has become a shopper’s dream. If you’d rather linger over your pumpkin pie, rest assured that many of these sales will be available online. And many will be live on Black Friday — even if the doorbusters are gone.”

Some retailers are doing away with Cyber Monday deals entirely. Walmart noted that it will be moving away concentrated sales from the Monday after Thanksgiving, and instead offering online deals every day during the holiday season.

This is a smart tactic in one respect. It forces shoppers to check back on the site every day to find out the daily deals, spreading out traffic throughout the season rather than concentrating it on Cyber Monday 2015. And there are definitely some good deals spread out, Time noted, including a 24-inch RCA HDTV for $99 (normally $180), a Star Wars lightsaber clock for $19 (normally $32), and a ride-on battery-powered Mercedes kids car for $94 (normally $200).

[Picture by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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