Cyber Monday isn't just another Monday to those scrambling for even more deals

Cyber Monday isn’t just another Monday to those scrambling for even more deals

Posted by Admin November 30, 2024 Shopping

“Cyber Monday” seems like such a quaint term, reminiscent perhaps of a gentler time when shoppers just shoved one another to grab Black Friday deals and weren’t scrambling to spend money online every single day of the year.

Even so, the Monday after Thanksgiving adds up to billions of dollars in spending. Last year, shoppers handed over $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, up 9.6% year-over-year, according to Adobe Analytics data.

The peak shopping time was 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. eastern in 2023 — and last year consumers spent $15.7 million every minute during that hour, according to Adobe Analytics.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday this year will remain the holiday season’s and the year’s biggest online shopping day, driving a record $13.2 billion in spending, up more than 6% year-over-year.

We’re rushing to snag a discount on everything — electronics, clothes, furniture, groceries and, yes, Santa has to fill the sleigh with toys, too.

While everyone has been complaining about inflation, some shoppers actually are expected to “trade up” and use strong discounts to buy higher-end items, according to Adobe. At least that’s the forecast for what could happen. Trading up could contribute to more than $2 billion in incremental spending, according to Adobe.

Discounts for electronics are expected to peak at 30% off listed price. Discounts for toys are set to hit 27%. But average discounts could be smaller than that in other categories — 24% off for TVs, 20% off for sporting goods, and 23% off for apparel and computers.

Cyber Monday is expected to be one of the best days to shop for electronics and apparel, the two biggest categories in e-commerce by revenue, according to Adobe.

Some 72.3 million consumers are expected to shop on Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. The forecast for Black Friday is 131.7 million shoppers, with 65% of those shoppers expecting to head to stores and shopping malls.

A record 183.4 million shoppers are expected to spend money in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, according to the retail trade group.

If you’re shopping on Cyber Monday, consider the following tips:

Spread out spending, because, what’s the rush?

You still have time to shop. For many people, it can make more sense to spread out spending in December as paychecks or bonuses roll into checking accounts. It’s one way not to spend more money than you have.

Christmas is on Wednesday, Dec. 25. This year, Hanukkah begins on the evening of Dec. 25 and runs through Thursday Jan. 2. Kwanzaa runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Retailers and e-commerce platforms create much excitement around shopping holidays, and Cyber Monday is only a day dreamed up in 2005 by the National Retail Federation to rev up online retailing.

Sometimes, the sense of urgency is manufactured, too. A consumer shopping guide released by U.S. PIRG noted that the some sellers on the e-commerce website Etsy have used fake countdown timers on deals that actually don’t expire.

Be on the lookout for hot scams

Some hot scams are old scams: Online sellers will impersonate big name brands to steal your cash or ID information. Ridiculous return policies are in place where it costs more to ship a good back than it did to buy something. Counterfeit designer goods and cosmetics are sold online that look like super bargains but aren’t the real deal.

The Better Business Bureau has warned that even QVC, HSN and other shopping networks have been impersonated by scammers who post ads on social media to sell goods that don’t exist.

Remember, fake websites, personalized phishing emails and social media posts created by crime rings are designed to fool you into thinking you’re buying from a legitimate company. Position your mouse cursor over a link without clicking on it to see a full URL and determine whether it’s legitimate. Don’t just click on any links sent to you.

“Look at the URL closely to confirm it contains no minor spelling errors designed to fool less cautious consumers,” according to the Better Business Bureau.

Crooks even use fake customer service chatbots to steal information, according to an alert by McAfee, an antivirus software. (Yes, we’re being warned about fake pop ups that pretend to be from McAfee, too.)

We’re hearing more warnings about holiday travel scams in 2024, as many people could be looking at their “bucket list” instead of a holiday shopping list.

Don’t rush to pull out that credit card — or pay any other way — until you understand what’s real and what’s not. Be especially cautious about any price for a flight or vacation rental that sounds too good to be true. Another red flag: feeling under pressure to book or buy anything immediately.

Once you book a trip, make sure to avoid fake TSA PreCheck sites when you’re getting ready to take a flight, as well as fake texts about unpaid tolls after you take road trip.

Increasingly, scammers are sending more targeted pitches via email, text or social media to appeal to a shopper’s specific interests — fashion, tech, sports, travel, you name it — making you more likely to be tempted.

And the scammers will continue to hide behind big brand names — Amazon, FedEx, big name banks and credit unions.

“Scammers may tell you there is a fraud investigation, and you must ‘verify’ your account or claim there is an unauthorized or fraudulent activity on your Amazon account,” according to an alert issued by Amazon in November.

But Amazon said it will never ask you to share your password, read back a unique one-time password for account sign-in, or even verify sensitive personal information over the phone. The same advice applies when someone contacts you out of the blue and claims be from your bank, credit card issuer or credit union.

Determine what you really need

Any sales frenzy can make you want to rush to buy another $40 sweater. But, again, you might want to step back a bit before you start shopping online and figure out what gifts you really need to buy.

Sure, maybe you had a rough year — or even a fantastic year — but how many gifts should you plan to buy for yourself to commiserate or celebrate? Set a limit.

If you shop throughout the year for gifts for friends and family, as I do, take time to go to your closet to first review what gifts you’ve already bought. You might not need to buy as much as you’re tempted to buy when you’re glaring at a “50% off everything on our site” banner on Cyber Monday.

Don’t you have a gift card for that store?

Now is as good a time as any to dig through your drawer for any gift cards for Target or other big name retailers. It doesn’t hurt to use your gift card cash to buy gifts for someone else.

Many times, you can use those gift cards to cover some online purchases, too.

Ask whether a $15 bargain will trigger more spending

Sure, that $15 sweater is super cute for your niece. But didn’t you already spend $30 on her Christmas gift? Didn’t you say to yourself that you’d spend $30 each on all your other nieces and nephews? Do you now need to add another $15 item or gift card for the others on the list?

Sometimes, a $15 bargain sweater turns into another way to get you to spend even more money. Say you’re picking up that bargain for yourself. If a sweater doesn’t match anything you own — speaking from experience here — you might need to go out and buy pants or a scarf to create a complete outfit.

Remember, it’s only Monday and 29 days remain in December, a month filled with holidays, festivities and one more sale after another designed to give us yet another reason to “spend to save.”

Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) @tompor.