Get Ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2009

The Next Best Thing

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. But do you know what the next best thing that comes after Thanksgiving is? That’s right, it’s Black Friday! It’s the biggest shopping day of the year!

Black Friday is the day to go out and buy the things you have always wanted but couldn’t because those discount tags never showed up as you planned. I mean, people are even willing to take out a cash advance to fund this nationwide shopping event. However, it seems this yearly shopping ritual is only getting better with time. Ever heard of Cyber Monday? Well, I just did and, as a shopper and an online marketer, I’m pretty stoked.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday was invented by the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association. According to Wikipedia, the term Cyber Monday refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday, which unofficially marks the beginning of the Christmas online shopping season. So what this basically means is if you miss the Black Friday shopping hustle, you still have a chance to make it up on Monday. Cyber Monday is the Monday you will actually enjoy.

Great tip for Online Merchants

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnal_hedge/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

A recent Yahoo! Insights team research revealed that the number of sales during last year’s Black Friday were actually not too far from the overall sales that took place the Monday following. Click-through rates were down 27% on both days compared to the rest of the month. However, online traffic and conversions went up significantly. Black Friday showed an increase in conversions by 147%, while Cyber Monday had a 73% increase in conversions.

What does this mean for me?

This study lays out a great opportunity for online marketers. You have about 1½ months before the biggest shopping days of the year. I suggest you start promoting and investing throughout the month to create attraction. Get a head-start and take advantage of the holiday traffic now. You will witness flourishing conversions not just for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but for the rest of the holiday season.

For all you holiday shoppers on the other hand, start saving now! You are already aware of how busy and expensive holiday shopping can be. You have enough time to save a sufficient amount of money for your holiday expenses, which will prevent the need of a cash advance at the last minute.