The phrase “Cyber Monday” was created by Shop.org–a part of the United States trade association National Retail Federation–in 2005.   According to research, 77% of online retailers reported much higher sales on the Monday following Black Friday in 2004.

Why were sales higher on this day? Lots of people had just come off a holiday weekend, and the Christmas shopping season had just begun. So people were in the mood to shop–and were probably eager to find a few more good deals. So on their first day back from vacation, people would  hop back on their computers, connect to the Internet, and shop, shop, shop!

According to comScore, a digital marketing research company, consumers have spent increasingly more money every Cyber Monday since 2006–even when the United States was in a recession. Here are the amounts reported to have been spent by consumers according to year:

• In 2006:  Black Friday – $430 Million / Cyber Monday: $608 Million
• In 2007:  Black Friday – $530 Million / Cyber Monday: $733 Million
• In 2008:  Black Friday – $534 Million / Cyber Monday: $834 Million
• In 2009: Black Friday – $595 Million / Cyber Monday: $887 Million

From these figures, we can see:

• sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday have increased each year for the past four years.
• sales have been higher on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday for each of those four years

Percentage increase in sales each year for Black Friday:

• 2007 increase over 2006: 23 percent
• 2008 increase over 2007: less than 1 percent
• 2009 increase over 2008: 11 percent

Percentage increase in sales each year for Cyber Monday:

• 2007 increase over 2006: 12 percent
• 2008 increase over 2007: 11 percent
• 2009 increase over 2008: 11 percent

Looking at these figures, both as static dollar amounts and in the context of their trends, we see that Cyber Monday generates higher sales AND is a faster growing behavior for consumers.

A smart retailer would take note that substantial money is being spent on Cyber Monday, and would fight hard for their portion of the pie. Of course, Black Friday is also still a huge sale day.