The Short And Sweet History Of Cyber Monday

Sure, the craziness of Black Friday is over, but that doesn't mean the insane deals are. Nowadays, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday all blur together in a period of intense saving and shopping — and in recent years those few days have become widely known as the kickoff for the holiday shopping season. But, what is Cyber Monday, exactly?

The term Black Friday has been around for a while. But, considering the fact that Cyber Monday lives and breathes on the Internet, it's easy to assume that it's a much more recent development. The term was coined in 2005 by a division of the National Retail Federation in attempt to give the day a catchy name and encourage even more shopping.

Up until then, the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend was only a marginally popular shopping day. Many people already shopped through the weekend, and spent Monday morning in the office scouring the Internet for deals they weren't able to find in stores. But, by implementing a marketing scheme for the day, retailers began to see sales on that day skyrocket.

Since 2005, Cyber Monday sales have continued to climb. In 2005, the day saw $484 million in total sales. By 2010, Cyber Monday cracked the billion dollar mark with over $1 billion in sales. That's a pretty large jump in a short amount of time. So, naturally, more and more retailers have jumped on the Cyber Monday bandwagon — making it an increasingly popular part of the Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big fan of online shopping. I don't have to deal with rude drivers in parking lots. I don't have to wait in a ridiculously long line at the register. And, I can buy as much stuff as I want without having to worry about hauling it all out of the store. Turns out, I'm not the only one who feels that way — even the serious shoppers recognize the major convenience of online shopping on Cyber Monday.

In fact, the average number of items purchased on Black Friday is about 5.6. But, the average number of items per order on Cyber Monday lands right around 8.3. See? Convenience is worth a lot to shoppers. Plus, there is nothing more convenient than being able to score some major deals from your office on a Monday morning, which is where most Cyber Monday shopping occurs. Statistics show that the majority of Cyber Monday traffic comes from peoples' workplaces.

At any rate, Cyber Monday looks like it is here to stay. And with all the amazing Cyber Monday deals that stand to be had, it might soon become your new favorite shopping holiday (if it isn't already, that is).

Images: Giphy