Why Cyber Monday will bring more customers into physical stores

Nov. 26, 2018 / 11:57 AM GMT

By Alyssa Newcomb

Cyber Monday has a track record of being the biggest online shopping day of the year and analysts expect this year’s shopping holiday will be one for the record books.

More than 75 million people will be taking advantage of online deals on Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. With a healthy economy and net incomes up, shoppers are expected to drop $7.9 billion on Monday, according to a forecast from Adobe Digital Insights.

However, while Cyber Monday is all about buying online, it may actually bring more shoppers into brick-and-mortar stores this year, said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.

Stores with a strong online presence and brick and mortar locations will have an advantage this year, as more shoppers want to receive their purchases now, rather than waiting a few days for a package.

“This line between what is online shopping and offline shopping is starting to blur,” Schreiner told NBC News. “We are seeing massive growth of buying online and picking up in store.”

Target’s drive-up option, which is at nearly 1,000 locations, allows shoppers to place an order in the Target app. An hour later, they can drive up and have their purchases brought to their vehicle by a Target associate.

Walmart gives shoppers the option to pick up certain items on the same day. Making the process even faster, shoppers can check in to the app to let the store know they’re on their way and to have the order ready.

“Many shoppers want to interact with retailers’ products and the brand in-store, and the ability to pick up online orders in-store within a matter of hours can’t be underestimated,” John Copeland, head of Marketing and Customer Insights at Adobe, said earlier this month.

That’s one key way big box retailers can go head-to-head with Amazon, but the online retailer is pulling all the stops to make sure this is its biggest and best Cyber Monday.

Last month, Amazon announced it would hire more than 100,000 seasonal workers to meet customer demand.

Amazon shoppers can look forward to an entire week of Cyber Monday deals, with Prime members getting first dibs. Savvy shoppers will want to check out the deal pages now and set alerts for when the items they want go on sale, since Amazon is only offering a limited quantity.

Across the board, the biggest discounts on Cyber Monday will be in the toy category, according to Adobe’s research, which also found that people are also more likely to shop for hotels and cruises on Cyber Monday.

There’s also another way to save extra money on top of the discounts being offered. There are a few apps, including Ebates, Swagbucks and Shopular. Choose one, shop at thousands of retailers through their app, and earn points that can be redeemed for cash or gift cards.