Do you know what Cyber Monday is? If so, then you are apparently more educated about e-commerce marketing trendsthan are 38% of Canadians, suggests a new survey.
A poll from The Source (Bell) Electronics Inc., a Canadian online and store retailer of electronics that operates 650 stores, finds that 62% of consumers in Canada “are familiar” with Cyber Monday. Taking place on the first Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving—Dec. 1 this year—Cyber Monday is an event created by marketers in 2005 to encourage shoppers to buy holiday gifts from work computers, often faster than the machines used at home. Last year, shoppers spent an estimated $2.29 billion online on Cyber Monday, with online sales increasing nearly 21% year over year, according to various estimates.
By comparison, 85% of Canadian shoppers know about Black Friday, the shopping day after Thanksgiving that features high levels of online and in-store shopping, along with annual video on news programs of consumers stampeding past the glass doors of bricks-and-mortar merchants in pursuit of holiday deals. Some chains have recently extended their Black Friday deals—among them, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose “New Black Friday” will include five days of sales on Walmart.com and in stores, starting at 12:01 a.m. online on Thanksgiving and running through Cyber Monday. WalMart.com holds the No. 4 spot in Internet Retailer’s 2014 Top 500 Guide.
The Source bases its findings on a survey of 1,496 Canadians conducted by public relations firm Hill & Knowlton Strategies’ research practice, H+K Perspectives, and Public Opinions Inc. between Oct. 23 and Oct. 28. It was not immediately clear if the survey was conducted online.
“It surprised us to learn that more than a third of the Canadians surveyed don’t know about Cyber Monday online shopping yet,” says Ron Craig, vice president of marketing at The Source. “Without question, there are amazing in-store deals on Black Friday but Cyber Monday brings deep discounts online, with no lineups, crowds or busy parking lots to worry about.”