The online version of the epic Black Friday sales day is here.
Most retailers recently have tended to lump Cyber Monday and Black Friday into one big shopping weekend, although last year that definitely brought mixed results.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales were down 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent respectively in 2021, an odd falloff for Cyber Monday sales which have been rising for years.
Black Friday is still king, however, even when it comes to online buying.
Last year an estimated 90 million shoppers spent $14.04 billion online on Thanksgiving and the day after, compared to 77 million online shoppers who spent $10.7 billion on Cyber Monday.
This year, Adobe Analytics predicts Cyber Monday will generate a record spend of $11.2 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent over last year.
Here’s what some of the big online retailers have planned:
Amazon
Amazon’s Cyber Monday weekend event started Saturday and runs until 2:01 a.m. CST Tuesday.
Amazon continues to be the dominant force during Cyber Week. Last year, Amazon beat out competitors like Walmart and Target in both traffic and sales. Amazon revenue went up by 10.68 percent after Black Friday 2021.
Deals can be found on the Cyber Monday deals page at the Amazon website or by using the Amazon shopping app.
Walmart
This year the nation’s biggest retailer is splitting Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with the latter having begun Sunday evening and running through Monday.
Walmart’s Cyber Monday sales often include major deals on toys, TVs, electronics and home gadgets.
Target
Target’s Cyber Monday deals are already available and the sales will run until midnight Monday.
Best Buy
Electronics specialist retailer Best Buy’s Cyber Monday sales began Sunday and end at 11:59 p.m. CST Monday.
But some Cyber Monday deals will be available during the rest of the week for online shoppers who procrastinated, company officials say.
Who’s buying what?
Adobe Analytics says electronics, apparel and groceries will contribute $103.8 billion in online spending this holiday season, nearly half of what Adobe expects for overall spending of $209.7 billion.
Big sellers are projected to be electronics at $49.8 billion in online spending, up 2.9 percent from last year.
In apparel, shoppers are expected to spend $40.7 billion online this season, a 6.7 percent decline from last year.
Adobe expects groceries to drive $13.3 billion of spending online, growing 10.5 percent over last year.
Look for sales
Most major retailers are overstocked, and that means to move this inventory, expect sales galore.
Discounts on computers, electronics and toys will hit all-time highs, experts say.
“Discounts for computers are expected to be as high as 32 percent (up from 10 percent in 2021), while electronics discounts are set to hit 27 percent (up from 8 percent), and toys at 22 percent (up from 19 percent),” Adobe Analytics said.
“Other discount categories will include televisions at 19 percent (versus 11 percent in 2021), apparel at 19 percent (versus 13 percent year-over-year), appliances at 18 percent (versus 4 percent), sporting goods at 17 percent (versus 6 percent) and furniture and bedding at 11 percent (versus 2 percent).”
