The Internet won the Black Friday and Cyber Monday wars this year, with customers choosing to shop at home in their PJs rather than battling crowds at stores. Consumers spent $4.45 billion online on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to Adobe.
Many online businesses reached out to customers with Black Friday-style cyber deals for popular items throughout the weekend. Here’s a look at what unique products were flying off the virtual shelves during one of the biggest selling weekends of the holiday season.
These Boots Are Made for Shopping
Women’s boots appeared to be the lure this holiday, with both Macy’s and J.C. Penney selling select styles for $19.99 on Black Friday. The deal was offered both in-store and online, with both retailers providing free shipping on purchases of $50 or more. Macy’s added a selection of puffer coats to its sale in the hopes of getting customers to stick around and add a few other items to their shopping carts before checking out.
Unexpected Gifts
Barnes and Noble hoped to win a few shoppers away from Amazon with its suite of unique Cyber Monday deals. In addition to $5 Nook titles and $10 off select gift books, Barnes and Noble offered 30 percent off its “unexpected gifts” collection, which includes diffusing misters, an app-controlled baking system and an accessory kit for smartphone photos.
Hot Technology
This year, retailers focused on two pieces of hot technology by offering big discounts. Walmart banked on drones, which are topping quite a few Christmas lists this holiday season, by discounting its Air Hogs Video Drone. Other retailers focused on hoverboards, including Target, which offered a $100 discount on Swagway Hoverboards during Cyber Monday.
The Connected Home
Retailers squeezed a few smart home items into their Cyber Monday deals, including Home Depot’s offering of the Nest 3rd generation Wi-Fi Thermostat. Amazon heavily discounted its own smart home product, the Amazon Echo.
Now that retailers are offering great deals online, as well as in their stores, shoppers no longer have a reason to get up early on Black Friday and beat the crowds. As shopping continues to shift to the Internet, deals seem to also be moving online.
For more information on the latest happenings in online retail, check out the Ecommerce Tips and Trends page.