The Wednesday before Thanksgiving will inevitably become Cyber Wednesday. Black Friday Sales began on Thanksgiving day this year for a few retailers and at midnight for most others. Almost all retailers launched their online versions of Black Friday Thursday morning, with a few starting their online promotions on the Monday before the holiday. Cyber Wednesday is on it’s way, based on the current trend this will happen by 2015 possibly sooner.
To better understand this phenomenon we need to explore the history. While the true origin of Black Friday dates back to 1961 and slightly broader use to 1975 it really did not become that well know to the public until after 2000 and became the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. in 2005. Ten years ago retailers began opening at 6:00 am to get the jump on the competition. As the competition migrated to follow the early openings the times inched back to 5:00 am and 4:00 am. In 2011 retailers started opening at midnight Thanksgiving night, not to be outdone Walmart and a few others decided to open all day Thanksgiving day this year. The news media negatively hyped this but in reality the few hundred protesters nationwide were less than the store traffic in one hour in Wal-Marts smallest market. This year any retailers that opted not to open on Thursday, as well as all of those that did launched their online deals early Thursday.
Cyber Monday is just 8 years old debuting in 2004. Instead of jumping into the workweek after 4 days of vacation many consumers used the high speed internet service available to them at work (and not at home) to get the great deals they saw window shopping at the mall. Realizing the opportunity many online retailers offered deals equal to or better than Black Friday on Monday. As high speed connections became the norm at home and with retailers looking for a leg up on the competition Cyber Monday offers began appearing on Sunday and with many extended through Tuesday.
Analyzing the retail sales of our clients over the past few years we see a 50% / 50% split between Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales for most. This 6 day period is by far the busiest for all of our clients. We have always encouraged launching the campaigns a day early and extending a day longer, a practice that has proven very effective. In the past we launched Black Friday late on Thursday but this year we moved to mailing Thanksgiving morning. By next year I am sure we will be mailing Black Friday Midnight Wednesday night or earlier and won’t be alone. It will take time and can’t be moved back 2 days in one year or consumers won’t be sure if a better deal is coming on Black Friday. Within a few years mailing Tuesday night will be the norm and regardless of what it is called it will be a true Cyber Wednesday.
