After Black Friday, Cyber Monday kicks off December online retail spree

Online retailers to make an impressive start to the festive shopping period.

Closely following the chaos of Black Friday comes an equally booming Cyber Monday, with analysts predicting £650 million of sales over the course of the day.

The run-up to Christmas is often the highlight of the retail year, as consumers usually go on a month-long shopping spree. This year, it is forecast to be worth around £36.5 billion; and on Cyber Monday, internet industry body IMRG has predicted that 25 million shoppers will spend up to £451,000 per minute.

Online consumers browse on the weekend and buy on Monday

As the festive period begins and the beginning of the month is often a pay day, a spending spike was noticed by retailers on the first Monday of December.

“Mondays are big days for online, with customers using the weekend to browse products before finalising their purchases,” said Jeremy Fennell, e-commerce director for Curry’s PC World. “Traditionally, Cyber Monday is the biggest.”

‘Small Business Saturday’ also becoming a trend due to campaigning

The success of branding shopping days with a name, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is being pounced upon by small retailers with the creation of Small Business Saturday.

Taking place on December 6th, this non-political campaign encourages consumers to support their local small shops. Last year, 48 per cent of consumers were aware of the campaign, and over £460 million was spent on Small Business Saturday in 2013.

Many regions are calling on consumers to think local instead of turning to giant online retailers, with some local councils offering free parking on Saturday to encourage customers.

Christmas shopping mania will continue with ‘Manic Monday’

The second Monday of the month, which has been named ‘Manic Monday’, is predicted by IMRG to surpass Cyber Monday as customers become more confident that online retailers can deliver on time.

IMRG forecasts spending on Manic Monday to amount to £676.5 million – equating to £470,000 worth of sales per minute.

According to James Miller, senior retail consultant at Experian Marketing Services, the huge successes of these key shopping days mean Christmas 2014 is on track to be another record breaking year for online retail in the UK.