In the past few years, Cyber Monday has exploded onto the retail scene to become a day on par with its older counterpart, Black Friday. How do we know? More than 122 million consumers shop on Cyber Monday. (source NRF)
Mobile and online shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday each experienced strong growth. According to shopping data from PayPal*, purchases made on mobile devices accounted for a third of all total payment volume on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
So what should you buy on Cyber Monday?
Save shopping for designer clothing and accessories, housewares, and travel until Monday (electronics—think TVs, cell phones, and computers—saw a one percentage increase in savings on Monday, so not enough to alter your shopping plans). Skirboll said RetailMeNot's numbers pointed to travel as being the category with the most savings on Cyber Monday last year. As for that designer caveat? With luxe e-tailers like Net-a-Porter, Stylebop, and Farfetch having no brick-and-mortar components, Monday is their day to shine.
What you should skip altogether:
If you're shopping for children's gifts, Skirboll says to hold off on buying toys. They'll see the biggest price slashes in the 10 days leading up to December 25. She also suggests checking retailers' and brands' Twitter and Instagram accounts before shopping on Friday or Monday to see if they're offering additional sales or codes to followers.