MicroStockHub/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Cyber Monday is expected to become the largest online shopping day in history, according to preliminary data from industry analysts.
Analysts predict consumers will spend anywhere from $10.8 billion to $12.7 billion on Monday, a 15% to 35% increase compared to last Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Analytics.
“Cyber Monday is on track to break all previous records for online sales,” Taylor Schreiner, the director at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement.
“Consumers will likely take advantage of the best discounted items today like TVs, toys and computers before price levels start creeping back up throughout the rest of the season,” Schreiner added. “Shoppers are encouraged to do their gift buying soon as shipping in time for Christmas will get more expensive in the coming weeks.”
As the coronavirus pandemic looms large over this year’s holiday shopping season — leading to high demand for online, delivery and curbside pickup options this year — Adobe found that Black Friday 2020 hit a new online sales record with consumers spending $9 billion. This is an increase of 21.6% in online sales compared to Black Friday last year, making it the second-largest online spending day in U.S. history after Cyber Monday 2019.
In addition, curbside pickup over Black Friday weekend was up 67% compared to last year, according to Adobe.
Still, analysts say they expect this year’s Cyber Monday to be the “king of online shopping days and become the largest online sales day in history,” according to Adobe’s analysts.
Their research found that 56% of consumers believe that retailers are saving the best discounts for Cyber Monday, and that shoppers are likely to see the biggest discounts on computers. Deep discounts on toys, appliances and electronics are also expected.
The analysts also highlighted other trends expected Monday, noting that between 7 p.m. PT to 11 p.m. PT will be the “golden hours of retail,” when customers rush for last-minute buys before the deals expire. That four-hour window is expected to bring in a massive 29% of the day’s revenue, or at least $3.1 billion. The analysts forecast $13 million will be spent per minute during the peak hour of 8 p.m. PT to 9 p.m. PT Monday.
Finally, the analysts found that mobile shopping has been dominating this holiday shopping season, accounting for 40% of online sales so far.
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