Five reasons Cyber Monday should replace Black Friday

by Cody Kitaura

Someone should tell all those people who on Friday wrapped themselves in fleece and shivered outside Best Buy about this thing called the Internet. It’s pretty fantastic, really. Not only does it make waiting in line outside a brick-and-mortar store before opening a thing of the past, it can even compete with the wild deals offered as part of Black Friday.

Today is Cyber Monday, the Internet’s answer to the wild sales offered as part of Black Friday. There are deep discounts, free shipping and plenty of big, bright ads. It was coined in 2005 when the National Retail Federation noticed a spike in traffic the Monday after Black Friday. Now its influence is growing; with any luck, it might some day even replace Black Friday. Here are a few ways we'd all benefit from such a switch.

1. Give power to the people

One of the main reasons Black Friday is so frantic is obvious. By scheduling the best sales to only last for a few hours, retailers trick shoppers into a frantic race to buy before someone else does. They tightly control the supply of discounted items, and whip shoppers into a frenzied mob obsessed with saving a few bucks.

It’s much harder to create a rabid mob of shoppers when they can’t see each other, so shoppers on Cyber Monday are much more likely to stay level-headed when hunting for deals. Without the added pressure that another shopping might beat you to the HDTV section, it’s much easier to stay calm and do some research before buying.

But online retailers are fighting to find a way to drum up some Cyber Monday chaos – eBay is running a series of “holiday doorbusters,” secret "Buy it Now" items like a Nintendo Wii or a new Corvette listed occasionally on the site for only $1. This is a clever attempt to carry over some of the frantic emotion from Black Friday, but someone should tell eBay two things:

1. A website has no door.

2. The $1 items are apparently being snatched up seconds after they are listed by scripted “bots” programmed to hunt the site faster than any human possibly could. Where’s the fun in that?

2. Stay safe

It’s a sad reflection of our society when a guide to shopping has to include an entry on personal safety, but facing off against the wild, deal-crazed mob created by Black Friday can be legitimately dangerous. There have been at least two instances of Black Friday tragedy this year:

In Long Island, N.Y., a temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death as a flood of shoppers broke through the store’s front doors just minutes before its 5 a.m. opening. The family of Jdimytai Damour will have to spend the holidays without the 34-year-old fan of movies, Anime and politics. Hopefully the hundreds of people who “had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal-Mart store” will enjoy the fruits of their shopping trip.

A Southern California Toys R Us was the scene of another Black Friday tragedy, as two men shot each other to death in the middle of the store’s crowded aisles about 11:30 a.m. Toys R Us officials were quick to try to dissociate the incident from Black Friday.

“Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved,” the company said in a statement. “Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday.”

Frenzied mob or not, the average shopper does not bring a loaded weapon to Toys R Us. But it’s still too early to know for sure whether this dispute was related to past tension or a fight over a toy.

3. Sleep in

Some people look better in their pajamas than others. It’s as simple as that. And even if you are a “morning person,” odds are you aren’t a “get frostbite in line at Best Buy person.”

4. Take your time

Miss today's deals? Don't worry, there's always next week's Cyber Monday. Although today's is the most prominent, each Monday between Thanksgiving and Christmas is considered a Cyber Monday. A few years ago, retailers noticed a spike in online shopping on each of these Mondays, and decided to capitalize on it with sales and promotions.

5. Don’t end up on YouTube

There’s just something about Wal-Mart that attracts the strangest group of shoppers, so it’s no surprise that the added mob mentality of Black Friday affects them more so than the clientele of other stores. It’s not like viewers of this video will commend the shoppers piling on each other for the last Xbox 360 for their shopping prowess. A more likely reaction is pity for and disappointment in our society.



[note] Want to find Cyber Monday deals? Deal aggregators abound, including the sites listed in this article, dealhack.com, as well as tech blogs like Gizmodo and Engadget.