Although Cyber Monday is not the biggest shopping day of the year, it is one of the busiest for online retailers. Cyber Monday, which is a name for the Monday following Thanksgiving, is a term that was coined by Shop.org last year. Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation. Shop.org did not, however, create the phenomenon of Cyber Monday. It merely gave a name to the shopping phenomenon that is twin to Black Friday.

Black Friday is the day immediately following Thanksgiving that, for retailers and many shoppers, is the kickoff for the Christmas season. Stores open incredibly early and offer drastic price cuts and savings for early bird customers. Cyber Monday, however, has become the Christmas kickoff for online retailers and shoppers. After Thanksgiving festivities, many people spend part of the following Monday ordering gifts online. As the years go on, the Cyber Monday phenomenon seems to grow stronger and stronger.

Many online retailers have followed tradition and offer discounts and savings opportunities for web customers who get their orders in early on Cyber Monday. Some online retail companies also offer incentives and savings options for first-time customers. While the best deals all seem to be offered early in the season, close to Cyber Monday, many internet retailers will offer discounts throughout the holiday shopping season.

Upon coining the term “Cyber Monday”, Shop.org developed CyberMonday.com where, on Cyber Monday, online shoppers have access products of nearly 400 online retailers who are offering special promotions. Proceeds collected by CyberMonday.com will be donated to the Shop.org scholarship program for students studying eCommerce.

For retailers, it seems, the internet is becoming an incredibly powerful way to market and sell their products. Companies have come to understand that, even for those individuals who prefer to purchase their gifts in stores, the internet can still be a great tool. Online retailers generally offer a great deal of information along with high-resolution images of their products so that consumers can research them and make purchasing decisions before heading out to shop. While many of the shoppers who browse online shops during Cyber Monday may not purchase their gifts online, the research that they do on this second Christmas kickoff day may lead to in-store purchases a few days later.

Although Cyber Monday is a major shopping day, online retailers have reported that the biggest online shopping day of the year is the last day in which customers are guaranteed to receive their packages before Christmas. In 2005, for example, this date was December 12.