Cyber Monday
A neologism coined in 2005 by shop.org (National Retail Foundation), Cyber Monday is the online equivalent of Black Friday. Another unofficial mark of the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
There are skeptics however, that this is just another ploy by the retail industry to push us all into buying, buying, buying. It's not the biggest shopping day of the year, but it is busy.
Retailers across North America offer deep discounts, free shipping and one-day or hourly sales - all in an effort to keep customers coming back throughout the day. In the old days, when we did not have high speed internet connections at home (remember dial-up?), many people would wait until returning back to work on this Monday to take advantage of the office broadband connections and do their online shopping. As a result, online shopping is now also encouraged on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the USA - encouraged to do at home, not at the office.
Our shopping habits have certainly changed. I was watching reports about Canadians crossing the border last Friday to take advantage of retailer's sales. Personally, I don't see how that is saving much. The time to travel, the petrol wasted, the long line-ups...not my idea of shopping, but apparently some say it is well worth the trip.
As old-fashioned as I may be, I definitely prefer online shopping with my computer, to standing in line at the mall.
I know there are great deals out there...will you be taking advantage of them?
2 comments:
I was amazed to see how many people waited in line all Thanksgiving night to be among the first to grab good deals when the stores opened on Friday. Needless to say I was sleeping which is the way it should be on the day after that holiday.
I like a mix of both online and real world shopping, especially because shipping rates to Canada can be rather astronomical, thus making items that may have seemed like a deal actually more off a rip-off (or at least not quite a bargain any more).
While I love to personally wrap all my gifts and tuck handwritten cards in with them, I do like that some eshops (Amazon springs to mind) allow you to have your gifts sent right the recipient, which can cut down on the cost of you paying for shipping to your house and then again to the person you're gift is going to (if you're mailing it, that is).
I'm thankful that online shopping exists because it opens up a world of items that I may not have ever found, even living in a large city, but for certain items, I'm still happy to stand in line with the best of them during the holiday season :)
Big hugs & a very happy December, to you, sweet friend!
♥ Jessica
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