Cyber Monday 2013 Irrelevant? Black Friday TV, Computers, And Electronics Deals Actually Better

Is Cyber Monday 2013 becoming irrelevant? Well, some Black Friday vs Cyber Monday comparisons seem to say so, although those shopping for clothing and shoe deals should probably wait.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the best Xbox One and PS4 games deals are actually found on Black Friday. On average, there have been 229 percent more gaming deals on Thanksgiving than on Cyber Monday.

The concept behind Cyber Monday was coined back in 2005. The idea is that if you miss out on the best Black Friday deals, you hop online on Monday to pick up a similar, or sometimes better, option. But retailers have been slowly changing their marketing strategies, and Cyber Monday really isn’t that big of a deal anymore. In fact, some online only retailers report that traffic volume only increases by one or two percent on Monday in comparison to Black Friday.

If anything, retailers may want to start the holiday shopping earlier on Thanksgiving Day or offer month long November deals instead of waiting until later. The reason this becomes even a bigger issue in 2013 is because of a fluke in the calendar. Because Thanksgiving and Black Friday start so late in the month, there’s actually six less shopping days when compared to 2012.

Matthew Ong, Senior Analyst for NerdWallet, concurs with this assessment, adding that retailers who wait for Cyber Monday 2013 deals might miss the train:

“Retailers have focused their marketing efforts on Black Friday and pre-Black Friday sales out of the fear that sitting on the sidelines until Cyber Monday means finding consumers who’ve already spent their Christmas budgets a week earlier. The problem is exacerbated this year by how late the holiday retail season kicks off. Retailers want the season to start heating up earlier in November, not later in the month, and Cyber Monday is simply too late this year.”

Even though the name Cyber Monday seems to infer that TVs, computers, and electronics would be a better deal online, that’s actually not the case. DealNews found 85 percent more deals for laptops and computer hardware on Black Friday. Oddly enough, it’s clothing and shoes that get the big discounts on Monday.

But that’s not to say there won’t be any Cyber Monday TV deals waiting for those unlucky enough to be stuck at work today. And there will be some Cyber Monday 2013 specific deals. For example, Motorola is dropping the Moto X price by $150 in order to beat the news about the Google Nexus 5. And don’t forget to be on the lookout for Black November deals, as well.