Everyone knows about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that is traditionally considered by real-world retailers as the busiest shopping day of the year.
Well, this is Cyber Monday, the official start of the online Christmas shopping season.
The first Monday after Thanksgiving has been Cyber Monday since 2005, when the National Retail Federation (NRF) decided to coin a term for the day when people get back to work, rested after a long weekend, and start to shop and order holiday gifts from Internet merchants.
Online sales are a growing part of Christmas shopping. The season is expected to generate nearly $656 billion total in 2016. This year, retailers took in about $45 billion from 154 million shoppers over the Black Friday weekend alone. About 44 percent of that total came from online sales. And the total amount spent was down from last year because of dramatic sales offered both in stores and online, according to the NFR.
"It was a strong weekend for retailers, but an even better weekend for consumers, who took advantage of some really incredible deals,. In fact, over one third of shoppers said 100% of their purchases were on sale." NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a press release.
The NFR expects about 122 million to shop online today. Many online retailers offer free shipping and deep discounts to entice shoppers. And they are using a surprising number of techniques to get the best deal-including smartphone apps, monitoring social media sites like Facebook and group-buying sites to find many deals in one place.
All of that online retail activity is good for the economy. But it's not always good for local brick-and-mortar merchants-the ones who employ your family, friends and neighbors and contribute most directly to the community's prosperity.
We understand the lure of low prices online. But we also understand the importance of supporting local businesses. We hope you do as well.
Shopping online is convenient. And it can save you some money.
But remember the retailers and their employees here in the Twin Cities for your shopping as well. Spending in the two Texarkanas is a way to help ensure a Merry Christmas all around.