Will Fewer Customers Be Shopping on Cyber Monday This Year? In a report, the National Retail Federation says it expects fewer people will take advantage of Cyber Monday's digital deals.
By Nina Zipkin
This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw fewer participants and less spending according to a recent study.
With most of us largely recovered from the weekend's onslaught of food and family togetherness, the requisite holiday deals and sales just keep on coming. But fewer people will be shopping today, Cyber Monday, than last year, the National Retail Federation says.
The global retail trade association conducted a study with Prosper Insights & Analytics, and found that fewer people are going to take advantage of Cyber Monday's digital deals. Last year, 131.6 million people planned to jump online for Cyber Monday. This year, 126.9 million consumers (52.3 percent of the shoppers surveyed), said they will be shopping online.
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The reason for the drop, according to NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay, is that customers are aware that Cyber Monday "won't be their last chance to find low prices and exclusive promotions."
The survey also found that 19.3 percent of consumers (24.5 million) are inclined to use a mobile device for their holiday shopping, while 84.5 percent of those surveyed are planning to use a personal computer.
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And while about 40 percent of customers plan to get online early in the morning, 18.4 percent will be buying around lunch time and 32.5 percent in the afternoon.
It isn't just Cyber Monday that saw a dip in participation this year. Though Black Friday remains the biggest shopping day of the year, the NRF also found that 55.1 percent of customers took advantage of Black Friday compared to 58.7 percent in 2013.
