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What Black Friday and Cyber Monday Mean to Your Business
By Vangie Beal
November 9, 2009

Two dates for e-commerce business owners to mark in November are Black Friday (November 27, 2009) and Cyber Monday (November 30, 2009).  

Last year, Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales were watched and tracked closely. There was a big expectation that these two shopping days were going to result in huge profits for many online retailers.

What are Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

In retail lingo, Black Friday is the first day after Thanksgiving in the United States.  This day is considered to be the official start to the Christmas shopping season.  Many employees in the U.S. have the Friday following Thanksgiving off (even though it is not an official holiday) and start their holiday shopping on this day.  In the retail industry Black Friday is perceived to be one of the largest major shopping days.

The onset of online shopping coined another phrase, "Cyber Monday.”  This is the Monday immediately following Thanksgiving (or the Monday immediately following Black Friday). The idea behind Cyber Monday is that employees head back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday and shop online for the items they did not purchase on the preceding Black Friday.

In theory these two days should result in more sales for online retailers. In reality, however, that isn’t always the way it works out.

How Did Online Retailers Fare in 2008?

According to ComScore, Black Friday of '08 wasn't nearly as profitable as anticipated.  This report indicated that e-commerce sales were $534 million, but that was only a single percent increase over the previous year (2007).  What many online retailers actually walked away with on Black Friday in 2008 was a big letdown.  

So, if Black Friday was more for “browsing” than buying, that should mean (again, in theory) that Cyber Monday would pick up where Black Friday fell short.

In December 2008, ComScore released its Cyber Monday data. The report suggested that online retail sales for Cyber Monday in 2008 were up 15 percent over 2007. Of course, the research data also showed that the average dollars spent per buyer declined by five percent, due to the "extremely attractive" prices offered by a number of large online retailers — remember those seriously discounted offers retailers bombarded shoppers with last year?

Will Black Friday Be the Big Boon in 2009?

Predictions for how well these dates will fare in 2009 have been few and far between. Earlier this month, The National Retail Federation (NRF) released its 2009 holiday forecast. In the report, NRF projected that we would see holiday retail sales decline by one percent this year to $437.6 billion. This data is based on expectations for the full months of November and December, a total of 55 shopping days.

Another interesting finding in the NRF 2009 and 2009 Holiday Survival Kit is that NRF does not provide statics for just those two days, but it does report that retailers often see spikes in retail shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But it also says that these are not the busiest online shopping days of the year.

According to NRF the last Saturday before Christmas often takes top honors as the best day for retailers, and Thanksgiving Day is a November date that ComScore tracked in 2008 as having higher-than-average sales.

What's It Really Mean for Small Online Retailers?

So, what does all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday buzz mean for small online retail stores? Generally speaking, you should expect more site traffic than usual during this period in November and possibly more sales when compared to any other day in November.

What small retailers need to take away from the idea of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that around this time in November, your holiday selling season has begun.  

Larger retailers promote Black Friday specials, and sites dedicated to Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (like Offers.com and TheBlackFriday.com) also help to hype these two November shopping dates.

Profits from these two days alone will not take you from small Web shop to an “Amazon-esque” conglomerate, but it makes sense for small online retailers to start their holiday shopping promotions.

Think of Black Friday as a great way to start the holiday season and as an opportunity to bring in new customers by offering a few good Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. This will help you kick off the holiday shopping season for your customers and  let you take advantage of November’s shopping traffic.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.  

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