Forty per cent of Canadians expected to take part in Cyber Monday

First at Five: Cyber Monday First at Five looks at how Maritimers spent the busiest online shopping day of the year.

Cyber Monday has become one of the busiest online shopping days of the year worldwide, as Canadians scour the web for the best internet deals in a mass shopping craze that began on Black Friday.

Retail Analyst Bruce Winder expects around $1 billion to be spent online by Canadians to mark the first Monday of December. He also believes Cyber Monday is overtaking its in-store predecessor.

“Black Friday is still a super important day,” says Winder. “It's one of the top days of selling for the year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Cyber Monday started to eclipse that.”

He says in the United States, in-store sales on Black Friday were up just one per cent, while online sales from the same day jumped by 15 per cent as consumers gravitate towards the online model.

The term “Cyber Monday” was first coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005, and has routinely become one of the biggest online shipping days of the year thanks to hyped up deals from retailers. Upwards of 40 per cent of Canadians are expected to do some sort of online shopping as part of Cyber Monday.

Savings can range from a mere 10 per cent to as high as 50 per cent or greater depending on the item. Winder says items like clothing tend to have better deals due to the higher volume of merchandise, while electronics tend to not have the amazing big deals Cyber Monday has become known for.

Clothing and electronics are among the most sought after deals this year, with Winder also pointing to beauty products as another popular purchase.

For some people, like Ibrahim Almohamad, his family looks forward to the deal day.

“My parents do shop a lot on Cyber Monday, and they love it,” he says. “Good quality, good deals, good everything.”

Others, like Catherine Smith, aren’t buying into the online hype.

“The deals aren't that good,” Smith says.

Another factor thrown into this year’s Cyber Monday in Canada is the ongoing Canada Post strike. Winder doesn’t expect the strike to impact companies like Amazon and their shipping abilities, but it could impact small local businesses trying to mail out merchandise for the holidays.

“If they have to use another courier or someone like that, it's going to cost a lot more, like two to three times more,” Winder says. “That might put them in the red, they might lose money and/or they might ask consumers to pay for that. A lot of consumers these days are looking to keep their pocketbook tight, so they might opt out of buying from these folks.”

While most people use Cyber Monday to complete their holiday shopping, Winder says the day is also a common time for residents to buy new small household appliances like a toaster or coffeemaker while they are on sale.