Monday, November 28, 2011

Will You Participate?


I haven't even heard of Cyber Monday until just recently, but I guess it's a big deal.
The Monday after Black Friday is "expected e-commerce sites to reach $1.2 billion in sales, which would be a 17 percent increase over last year", according to The New York Times. However, according to the article, this increase is probably due to the hard times. The recession seems to have triggered not only a wave of shopping for deals, but we can also see examples after this years Black Friday occurrences. On the other side, others see Cyber Monday as "more hype than reality", because according to Blue Nile, the online jeweler, “The majority of consumers are procrastinators and they’ll wait as long as they can."
All in all, Cyber Monday is a big event and just like Black Friday will have it's own set of chaos. With "early sales reports indicated that it could again be the best day of the season for e-commerce companies" and people benefiting from good deals one could say "It's almost ceremonial".
So my question is what makes Cyber Monday so exciting? Is it the deals that are of great importance? Or the hype?



(Image: An Amazon warehouse in Swansea, Wales, last week. The Monday after Thanksgiving was Amazon.com’s busiest day last year.)

14 comments:

Kimi Hashizume said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kimi Hashizume said...

I think that what makes Cyber Monday so exciting and such a hit is the fact that everything is on sale, and typically there is the plus of free shipping. In other words it's like Black Friday minus the lines, fighting, sleeping in the cold to make the door busters and other other crazy chaos. Kind of amazing if you ask me. Furthermore, I think that the deals are of great importance given that everything is certainly a lot cheaper, and essentially almost the same as they would be in stores on Black Friday. But the hype also gives Cyber Monday it's character. I also wanted to add that I agree with the New York Times statement, regarding that there will be an increase in buying, due to the hard times. Since everything is on sale people often have a compulsion to buy things they don't need, simply because it is "on sale" and only for a limited time frame.

Michelle Pei said...

The "deals" sometimes aren't really deals. I read recently that on black friday and cyber monday, most retail companies usually jack the prices of a lot of the popular items up before they begin offering discounts. Thus, in the end, you're actually still paying the same amount you would have paid when there aren't any sales going on. Unless you pay attention to the prices before black friday, you would still think you got a great deal and probably want to buy more. The items with real deals on black fridays, like television with prices slashed to half, are often very limited in supply.

Personally, I don't believe that it's worth waking up at the wee hours, freeze to death in a line, and basically risk suffocating or getting injured in a huge crowd just to save a few dollars. Cyber mondays are great. Black fridays, not so much.

Jamie Moore said...

I agree with Michelle. I think the hype of all the sales in reality is less about the actual value of the product and more about the fact that it is "marked down," which may not even be the case. The question we should be thinking about is not why it is exciting, but rather the effect it has on consumers and whether or not the revenue companies are taking in is actually significant enough to boost the economy, as some articles have written.

Sophia Wu said...

I definitely agree that despite Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales people are probably paying the same price as what they would pay later in the season. Consumers don't really notice because Black Friday and Cyber Monday have the reputation of items being on sale. Furthermore, like previously stated, Cyber Monday gives consumers the luxury of shopping in their own homes. With the click of a button, they can buy the same jeans that they would have otherwise had to wait hours in line for. In terms of the overall experience, I would say the Cyber Monday is definitely a better alternative to Black Friday. However, in terms of expected savings for value of a product, both events fall short.

Kyle Y. said...

I don't think this cyber Monday is that big of a deal. You can find a deal anytime of the year online depending on the site. I even recall crazy deals online on the day of Black Friday. I just feel anyday could be cyber Monday, whether it be around the holidays, summer, or just a normal day. I still think shopping online is the better way to go, especially when free shipping is available. It just cuts out the time going to places, snooping through stuff, etc.

Alyssa_Block said...

Because my family and I do not have the patience to wait in lines for hours, going out to large, crowded department stores on Black Friday has never been something I have participated in. However, I have purchased items online that have been marked down.

Michelle makes a good point about stores increasing the prices just so that they can mark them down. It reminds me of when we discussed price confusion earlier this semester when we were studying econ. Store owners can use price confusion to make people think that they are spending less money, but in reality, they pay the same amount.

Cyber Monday is a better idea in my opinion, but mostly because shopping online appeals more to me than waiting in lines. However, it will be interesting to see how much money companies make from Cyber Monday sales, and if having it right after Black Friday decreases the amount people purchase today/

Shawn Murphy-Hockett said...

I agree with Michelle and Jamie in that items seemed to be marked down when they really aren't. And item may be marked down from $30 to $29.50 but is that really a good deal? Many sites offer free shipping, while others often trick you into paying over $50 for the "free shipping". Websites never include the tax or handling when dealing with "free shipping". The real joy of Cyber Monday comes from Kimi's idea in that people don't want the long lines, and chaos in buying an item on sale. Americans are lazy and would much rather shop online and avoid getting off the couch at all possible costs. I think that Americans believe they are receiving a good online deal, when really they have been sucked into the hype of Cyber Monday.

Jacqueline Young said...

As others have said, I think a main reason Cyber Monday is such a hit is because it encompasses many of the perks of Black Friday without some of the hassles. Shoppers can now peruse a store's catalog and selections in the comfort of their own homes, but they lose the ability to try items on, if shopping for clothing.
However, does Cyber Monday being so close to Black Friday affect sales at all? I wonder if people who just went out and spent and bought a lot on Black Friday will be willing to buy even more online on Cyber Monday, even if prices are reduced and/or there is the incentive of free shipping.

Ryu (Richard Leung) said...

Adding on to Jacqueline's comment, I think that what makes Cyber Monday more "exciting" is how much less effort it takes to go on a buying spree. Instead of driving somewhere (uses gas which costs money unless you walk, which is unlikely) and having to wait in line, and risk getting pepper-sprayed, trampled, or injured in any way, one could just simply go on their computer and buy what they want without risking life and limb because five other people want exactly what you want, making it a survival for the fittest scenario. In response to the parting questions, deals are deals, the only difference is how much people save (without factoring in time, gas money, tax, and shipping), so I guess Cyber Monday is more of a hype.

Keaton Gee said...

I think it's a combination of hype, deals, and convenience. As Michelle mentioned, no one wants to stand in a line the early morning after a Thanksgiving feast. But Cyber Monday offers something Black Friday doesn't; great deals with the luxury of online shopping. In my opinion, Cyber Monday is a great opportunity to save a few bucks straight from the comfort of your own home.
Additionally, with the economy in such bad shape, many people seek to find cheap deals for quality brands.
I myself participated in Cyber Monday, and I can say with great certainty that it was much less of a hassle than dragging myself around Westfield on Black Friday.
Ultimately, I think Cyber Monday is valued because it offers a convenient way to buy products at reasonable prices.

Jennifer Nguyen said...

Weird, I never heard of Cyber Monday either. Anyway, I feel like Cyber Monday will most likely have the same effect as Black Friday. People are going to buy stuff just because its slightly discounted. People are just always trying to find the better deal. Whether they know about the deal or not, if they see a price they like they'll buy it.

KennyL said...

I believe that cyber monday is a way of extending black friday without taking away the allure of a "one day only huge discounts" that black friday has. It's similar to the economic concept of monopolistic competition in that both of these "products" are very similar yet just different enough to be considered separate products. They also appeal to different demographics, but recently that is beginning to change with many retailers giving discounts on their online stores on black friday. What makes cyber monday so enticing is that it is much easier to search and research for what you want to buy. It's much easier to compare prices, and bluntly it is much easier to sit in front of a computer than walk around for a whole day for those who are not in shape. No matter what the reason for the excitement surrounding cyber monday, hopefully it encourages people to spend money and in turn circulate that money through the economy.

Timothy Leung said...

I never recalled Cyber Monday ever being bigger or more exciting than Black Friday. Maybe that is just me.

On that note, Black Friday is always about the hype of camping out in front of the store in the bitter November cold two hours before midnight or 6 am to get your doorbuster deal and having to fight blood and sweat for your prized item before they are sold out. It is all about the feeling and satisfaction of racing others for your good deal and the bitter-sweetness of obtaining the last item on the pile, regardless if they actually did get a good deal or not.

No camping, running, or fighting will ever occur on Cyber Monday, so physical adrenaline is missing for hype. The action of camping in front of your computer and being the first person to click "buy now" was never as exciting in the first place. Sure, you got a good deal according to that markup tag, but you won't have a Black Friday war story to tell afterwards.

Cyber Monday has no chaos like Black Friday, but the principle is the same. Cyber Monday makes a good sale day for the lazy people (which is all of us). Deals are still important to everyone, and the Black Weekend makes a great PR craze in this economy. So let the fools camp in line and at their computers to get their big deals while they generate a positive spike in the economy for two days.