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Whew! Yesterday was another crazy Cyber Monday for the online retail industry. E-commerce servers lighting up, continuous news coverage and deals, deals and more deals.
I have a few observations and comments.
First, congratulations to the many retailers who experienced a strong kick off to their online holiday season. Based on the reports I’m seeing, many retailers saw significant growth yesterday. While we don’t yet know if Cyber Monday is a bellwether for the rest of the holiday, the strong start is certainly encouraging and is aligned with the optimism expressed by so many online retailers heading into the holiday season. This strong performance is yet another reminder of online being the bright spot in retail.
The ongoing media coverage was quite impressive including CNBC broadcasting the entire afternoon from Amazon.com’s distribution center in Phoenix. One of my favorite stories was in the Boston Globe – Cyber Monday dilemma: Brady or bargains? The answer, of course, is that you can shop and watch Tom Brady (lose to the Saints as was the case last night) by doing what has become a regular occurrence – shopping online on a laptop from the comfort of your couch while watching your favorite TV show.
Like every year, we saw the Cyber Monday doubters. This year, the doubters were suggesting that Cyber Monday is no longer relevant because retailers started their promotions early and plan to offer them them past Cyber Monday. I think they’re missing the point. Black Friday is a decades old retail tradition and retailers have held sales and promotions before and after this day as well. Yet, these activities haven’t diminished the importance of Black Friday or the number of people who venture out for deals. Similarly, with more people shopping on Cyber Monday and more retailers offering deals, Cyber Monday has only grown in importance.
As the group that coined the term, Cyber Monday, this day has special meaning to Shop.org. Not only because of the excitement it brings to the industry, but also because it is our primary opportunity to raise money for the Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund. I’d like to thank the many Shop.org retail members who participated in Cybermonday.com this year. Once again, we had record traffic to the site, which we expect will result in record money raised for the scholarship fund not to mention the sales it sends to participants.
Congratulations again to the retail industry for a great Cyber Monday!
Stay tuned to this blog and Shop.org’s Holiday Central for ongoing updates about the 2009 Online Holiday Season.
