Sure, Black Friday garners a lot of attention when it comes to the holiday shopping season, but Cyber Monday is still a force to be reckoned with. The online-centered Cyber Monday last year was huge for e-commerce sales as consumers spent $11.3 billion online – a figure expected to jump to $12 billion this year. What does ongoing tracking of consumer holiday shopping plans find about Americans planning to shop for deals on Cyber Monday?
Here are five key Cyber Monday insights as the day unfolds, courtesy of the InsightStore:
Nearly one-quarter report they’re likely to partake in Cyber Monday.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday have come and gone, but consumers aren’t done shopping for deals quite yet. The most recent CivicScience data show 23% of U.S. adults report they are ‘very likely’ to shop on Cyber Monday (close to Black Friday intent this year). Interest is nearly evenly spread across income brackets, but those with a household income of $100K+ are slightly more likely to be shopping the sales (26%).
Cyber Monday shoppers won’t just be bargain hunting on a computer this year – in fact, a plurality (46%) say they plan to shop via their smartphone. Just under 2-in-5 (36%) will utilize a computer, while the remaining 19% will turn to tablets to order.
Cyber Monday shoppers are prioritizing big-box and department stores this holiday season.
Big-box and department stores appear most likely to garner the attention of Cyber Monday shoppers. Those likely to shop are 12 percentage points more likely to say they’ll spend the most money holiday shopping for gifts at big-box stores, while they’re 10 points less likely to spend at small and locally owned businesses.
Cyber Monday shoppers are more likely to have embraced “bracketing.”
Bracketing (purchasing multiple copies of a product in different colors and sizes and returning all but one) could be prevalent for Cyber Monday. One-third of U.S. adults and 43% of Cyber Monday shoppers report having done this at least a couple times. Cyber Monday shoppers are also four points more likely to say they have bracketed a product ‘several times.’
Don’t underestimate the impact of TV advertising.
Cyber Monday may be online-centered, but that doesn’t mean TV advertising won’t make an impact in swaying what shoppers buy. In fact, likely Cyber Monday shoppers are 18 points more likely to say TV advertising influences their purchasing decisions at least ‘a little’ (62% to 44%).
Estimates expect this to be a big day for retailers, and CivicScience data show that is likely to be the case. Will last-minute TV advertising sway more to shop? Even if so, returns related to bracketing are something to watch in the coming days and weeks that could dent the final total for retailers.
Join the Discussion: Does it seem like Cyber Monday is becoming Cyber Week?
Ready to discover more in-depth consumer insights like these in real time? CivicScience is constantly tracking consumer behavior thanks to our database of over 500K survey questions. Start here to see it in action.
