Preparing your website for Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is an online shopping haven where shopper can bag themselves a bargain online. This usually takes place on the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend and unlike Black Friday, when everyone queues and rushes into the shops for a bargain, it takes place in the comforts of your own home.
This is great if you are someone who doesn’t like crowds as you don’t have to experience the chaos that sweeps through the shops as bargain hunters push their ways to the front of the shop and race to snap up those cheap electrical items.
Cyber Monday made its debut on November 28, 2005, in a Shop.org press release entitled “‘Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year”.
According to the Shop.org and Bizrate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, “77% of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)”.
In 2013, Cyber Monday online sales grew by 20.6% over the previous year, hitting a record $2.29 billion, with an average order value of $128.Research shows that between 2006 and 2011, online sales doubled to over 1.2 billion dollars on Cyber Monday
How does Cyber Monday differ from Black Friday?
Cyber Monday is different from Black Friday for many reasons including:
- More People Buy Later in the Day
Research shows that in 2013, Cyber Monday’s online sales peaked between 8pm and 9pm compared with Black Friday last year where online shopping sales peaked from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., bringing in the same $150 million for retailers.
People May Spend More
- An AOL survey revealed that the average shopper spends $468 on Cyber Monday, compared with $309 on Black Friday.
Slightly More People May Shop, With Gender Differences
Slightly more shoppers (55%) plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year than Black Friday. But women will be more active on Cyber Monday: 60% of women plan to shop Cyber Monday versus 50% of men.
What technical checks should a business put in place on their website?
– Check You Server Technology
Make sure you bandwidth isn’t limited.
Chat to you webhost to get them to double check your prepared for a spike in traffic.
– Check the website has a smooth purchasing process
Make sure all your positive user reviews are visible
– Check you can get& release the stock in the times you tell the purchaser
This year Cyber Monday takes place on Monday December 1st so make sure that you prepare well. Remember, by failing to prepare you will prepare to fail. With the first two Monday’s in December for online shopping being the busiest of the year it’s extremely important for your business to have these technical checks in place.
