What is Cyber Monday?

If you are a customer who loves to purchase or a retailer who wishes to sell then this post is intended for you.

In countries like the USA, UK, Germany, Portugal and Argentina, Cyber Monday is not an unfamiliar term.

But what is Cyber Monday?

 It is a term given by marketers in order to define this one day of the year following the Black Friday (it’s the day after Thanks giving) in the USA and the sole purpose of this day is to impel consumers to buy online discounted products…

In other words Cyber Monday is the online equivalent of Black Friday.

Thanksgiving is day celebrated every 4^th Thursday of November and the following day is called Black Friday which inaugurates the Christmas shopping season

Profit

What is the profit?

Based to ComScore.com here is the holiday spending growth year-over-year:

Thanksgiving: 32%

Black Friday: +28%

Weekend: +15%

Cyber Monday: 17%

Profit per year:

2006: 608$ million

2007: 703$ million

2008: 846$ million

2009: 887$ million

2010: 1,028$ million

2011: 1,251$ million

2012: 1,465$ million

Top-gaining retail categories on Cyber Monday:

Digital Content and Subscriptions: +28%

Electronics: +24%

Computer Hardware: +22%

Video Games and Accessories: +18%

Cyber Monday Spending by Location in 2012:

Home: 47.2%

Work: 47:1%

International 5:7%

What is the current situation of the retail market in Greece?

According to the Euromonitor the current situation in Greece can be summed up into tax increase, numerous closures and job insecurity, a session of uncertainty and instability leaving consumers very reluctant to spend. In their turn, retailers are negatively affected by this situation as well.

Since the future is already here in the face of digital predominance (the use of the internet in forms of desktop or mobile/tablet), it is a unique opportunity for retailers to create an ideal purchasing framework for consumers that will benefit from the offers/discounts made by retailers online.

So what would this framework be?

In our case, it would be the adoption of the Cyber Monday concept here in Greece.

Dual purpose:

1. Enhance the trust of the Greek audience in terms of online purchasing
2. Increase the profitability of retailers and SMEs

How it should work for Greece – Steps

1. Major retailers and also SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) along with marketing agencies should unify their efforts, after they agree on a specific date (similar to the 3 consecutive days of ‘’Cyber Monday’’) in order to mutually promote their venture.
2. Creation of a website that will facilitate users to find all shops (listed in categories) following the American model and its website about Cyber Monday. The website should include all featured offers available, merchants that belong to this venture and relevant shops by category.
3. Creation of a new section on the retailers’ website specifically for this purpose, facilitating the navigation of users through the retailers ’websites.
4. Ensure consumers for the safety of online transactions and at the same time enhance their online efforts through online marketing in order to approach users and notify them for this event, through the Web ( e.g. using social media, like Facebook Pages, Facebook Ads, Twitter, Pinterest and micro-target mobile users about what’s going to happen within their area, google ads etc).