What Is Cyber Monday? The Complete Guide

Learn what Cyber Monday is, how it started, and which product categories see the deepest discounts. Includes 2024 and 2025 sales data from Adobe Analytics and the National Retail Federation.

Everyone talks about Black Friday like it’s the Super Bowl of shopping. But if you look at the actual numbers, Cyber Monday consistently outspends it. By billions. That’s the fact most deal guides bury in the fine print.

Cyber Monday is the online shopping event held on the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It falls on a specific date each year because Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November. So Cyber Monday lands somewhere between November 26 and December 2, depending on the year.

The day was created in 2005 specifically for online retailers, but it’s long since escaped that narrow definition. What started as a retailer-invented marketing push has turned into the single biggest online shopping day of the year.

Key Takeaways

• Cyber Monday 2025 set a new all-time record: $14.25 billion in US online sales in a single day, according to Adobe Analytics, 2025.
• Electronics, toys, and apparel consistently see their steepest discounts of the year on this day.
• Mobile devices drove 57% of Cyber Monday 2024 sales. If you’re not shopping on your phone, you’re in the minority.
• The deals often stretch across the full week (known as Cyber Week), so there’s no single must-buy window.

The History of Cyber Monday

Where the Name Came From

The term “Cyber Monday” was coined by Ellen Davis and Scott Silverman of the National Retail Federation in 2005. They published a press release noting that the Monday after Thanksgiving had become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, as workers returned to their office broadband connections after the weekend.

That detail matters. In 2005, many US homes still had slow internet connections. Going back to a high-speed work computer on Monday was a practical reason to shop online. The name stuck, even though broadband in homes eventually made that original premise irrelevant.

Who Made It Official

The NRF formally promoted the day, and retailers jumped in quickly. By 2006, Cyber Monday was being covered in mainstream media as a bona fide shopping event. Amazon, then a much smaller company than it is today, was among the early major participants.

How It’s Evolved

The early years of Cyber Monday were modest by today’s standards. Sales in the mid-2000s were in the hundreds of millions. By 2012, the day crossed $1 billion for the first time. By 2019, it hit $9.4 billion. And then things accelerated fast.

According to Adobe Analytics, 2024, Cyber Monday generated $13.3 billion in US online sales, a 7.3% increase year-over-year. The 2025 record surpassed that: $14.25 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, 2025.

So in about 20 years, the day went from a made-up marketing term to the largest single-day e-commerce event in American history. That’s a real shift.

How Big Is Cyber Monday Now?

Let’s put some numbers on it, because the scale is hard to visualize.

According to Adobe Analytics, 2024, at its peak on Cyber Monday 2024, US shoppers were spending $15.8 million per minute between 8 and 10 PM Eastern. That’s not a typo. Per minute.

And in 2025? According to the National Retail Federation, 2025, that Thanksgiving weekend number climbed to a record 202.9 million shoppers.

The whole five-day Cyber Week period (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) totaled $44.2 billion in US online sales in 2025, according to Adobe Analytics via Reuters, 2025.

What most guides miss is that these aren’t just shopping records. They’re signals about where retail is heading. The fact that online Cyber Monday consistently outpaces in-store Black Friday spending tells you something about how Americans have restructured their holiday buying habits.

Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday

This is probably the most-asked question about the two events. Here’s the honest answer: online, Cyber Monday wins. In-store, Black Friday still dominates.

According to Adobe Analytics, 2024, Cyber Monday 2024 generated $13.3 billion in US online sales vs. Black Friday’s $10.8 billion. So the gap is real and it’s roughly $2.5 billion in Cyber Monday’s favor.

But here’s where it gets interesting. According to the National Retail Federation, 2024, Black Friday actually drew more online shoppers (87.3 million vs. Cyber Monday’s 64.4 million). The difference is in the average order value. Cyber Monday shoppers spend more per purchase. The average order ran around $651 vs. roughly $251 on Black Friday, according to data compiled from Adobe and NRF sources, 2024.

So fewer people on Cyber Monday, but they’re spending more per transaction. That tells you something about the buyer profile. Cyber Monday shoppers tend to be doing focused, higher-ticket purchases. Electronics are especially well-represented.

Black Friday still has its advantages: in-store exclusives, same-day pickup deals, and doorbuster items that don’t make it online. It depends what you’re buying. Our Black Friday deals page tracks both in-store and online offers side by side.

What Deals Are on Cyber Monday?

Not everything gets discounted equally. Based on past deal patterns we’ve tracked, a few categories consistently deliver the steepest cuts. You can also browse our curated Cyber Monday deals page closer to the event.

Electronics

Electronics are the anchor of Cyber Monday. According to Adobe Analytics, 2024, electronics saw average discounts of 30.1% on Cyber Monday 2024. That’s above what you’d typically see during other sale windows.

The categories that typically move the most: laptops, tablets, headphones, smart home devices, and gaming consoles. Best Buy usually runs some of its most aggressive tech deals of the year during this period. Amazon runs competing discounts across nearly every electronics category.

Toys

Toys hit 26.1% average discounts on Cyber Monday 2024, according to Adobe Analytics, 2024. LEGO sets, gaming accessories, and popular character toys tend to sell fast. If there’s a specific toy on a kid’s list, don’t wait until the day itself to plan your purchase.

Apparel and Accessories

Clothing and accessories averaged 23.2% discounts on Cyber Monday 2024, per Adobe Analytics, 2024. Target and Kohl’s typically offer some of the better clothing deals during Cyber Week.

Home and Kitchen

Appliances, cookware, and home goods are strong performers. Large appliances sometimes see their lowest prices of the year. Walmart tends to run deep cuts on home goods during Cyber Monday.

Software and Subscriptions

Digital deals are everywhere on Cyber Monday: software licenses, streaming subscriptions, cloud storage plans, VPNs. These often don’t get as much attention as physical goods, but the discounts can be deeper because there’s no shipping cost factored in.

How Retailers Prepare for Cyber Monday

Retailers don’t flip a switch on Cyber Monday morning. Preparation starts weeks in advance.

Most large retailers build dedicated landing pages, configure deal automation for specific SKUs, and negotiate pricing with vendors. The deals you see on Cyber Monday are usually locked in with suppliers weeks earlier. That’s why “price matching” after the event is often harder than price matching during other sale periods. The retailer has committed to specific terms.

Inventory management is a real challenge. Some items listed in Cyber Monday deals sell out within hours. Here’s something you won’t find in other guides: the “sold out” problem is actually a pricing strategy for some retailers. Limited quantities at maximum discount create urgency. When the first tranche sells out, the item sometimes reappears at a less deep discount.

Retailers also segment their offers. Email subscribers typically get access to deals 24-48 hours early. App users sometimes get an additional 5-10% stacked on top of the advertised price. Loyalty program members at stores like Kohl’s can sometimes stack rewards cash on top of sale prices.

Cyber Monday Shopping Tips

A few things that actually move the needle. Not just the generic “make a list” advice.

Set up price alerts before the event. Tools like our Chrome extension can show price history at checkout so you’re not flying blind.

Shop in the evening. The data supports this. Cyber Monday deal sites regularly publish their deepest discounts after 8 PM Eastern. Peak spending hits $15.8 million per minute for a reason. Based on past deal patterns we’ve tracked, the late-evening window brings the steepest markdowns, particularly on electronics.

Use BNPL on high-ticket items intentionally. Buy Now Pay Later hit $991 million on Cyber Monday 2024 alone, according to Adobe Analytics, 2024. If you’re buying something expensive and have a 0% installment offer, that can be a smart move. But don’t let BNPL availability push you into buying something you didn’t plan for.

Compare prices across stores. The same TV, same model number, can have meaningfully different prices between Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart on Cyber Monday. It takes five minutes and it’s worth it.

Look past the headline discount. A 50% off headline price means nothing if the original price was inflated to make the “deal” look bigger. Cross-reference with the product’s actual price history from the past 90 days.

Don’t ignore small retailers. Big-box stores get all the attention, but independent retailers on platforms like Etsy or specialized electronics resellers sometimes run comparable discounts with less competition for inventory.

Cyber Week: The Extended Version

Cyber Monday used to mean one day. Now it usually means a week.

“Cyber Week” is the industry term for the full five-day stretch from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. And increasingly, retailers extend their “Cyber Monday deals” through Tuesday or even into the following weekend.

This is mostly good for shoppers. It creates more windows to find deals if you miss the Monday itself. But it also dilutes the urgency retailers rely on to drive fast purchase decisions. Watch for the messaging: “Cyber Monday deals extended!” usually means the best items are already gone, and you’re looking at the second tier.

The 2025 Cyber Week total of $44.2 billion in US online sales proves the week format is working, though. Shoppers are spreading purchases across the period rather than cramming into a single day.

The Role of AI and Mobile in Modern Cyber Monday

Two trends worth watching from 2025 data.

Mobile now accounts for 57.7% of all Cyber Monday purchases, up from 57% in 2024, according to Adobe Analytics, 2025. That’s a majority of all transactions happening on a smartphone. If you’re still doing your Cyber Monday shopping on a desktop, you’re actually in the minority.

AI chatbots are emerging as a real deal-hunting channel. Retail traffic from AI tools like ChatGPT jumped 670% on Cyber Monday 2025, per Adobe Analytics, 2025. People are asking AI assistants to find them specific deals, compare prices, and shortlist products. This will keep growing. Our team has been watching this shift closely. When we checked the AI-sourced deal recommendations last Cyber Monday, the results were surprisingly accurate for high-demand electronics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What day is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which is always the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. This puts Cyber Monday between November 26 and December 2 each year.

Is Cyber Monday only for online shopping?

Cyber Monday originated as an online-only event, but many retailers now run hybrid promotions that include in-store components. The core of it is still online deals, but some physical stores participate.

What’s the difference between Cyber Monday and Black Friday?

Black Friday is focused on both in-store and online deals, traditionally led by in-store doorbuster promotions. Cyber Monday is exclusively online-focused and typically generates more total US online sales. Cyber Monday 2024 hit $13.3 billion online vs. Black Friday’s $10.8 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, 2024.

What sells best on Cyber Monday?

Electronics consistently see the deepest discounts (30.1% average in 2024), followed by toys (26.1%) and apparel (23.2%), according to Adobe Analytics, 2024. Gaming consoles, laptops, tablets, and smart home devices are perennial top sellers.

Is it better to buy on Cyber Monday or wait for other sales?

For electronics and toys, Cyber Monday typically offers some of the steepest discounts of the year. Apparel can sometimes match or beat Cyber Monday discounts during end-of-season clearances. The honest answer depends on the specific product category.

Sources

1. Adobe Analytics: Cyber Monday 2024 Recap: Record $13.3B in US online sales (2024)
2. Adobe Analytics: Cyber Monday 2025: Record $14.25B in US online sales (2025)
3. National Retail Federation: 197 Million Shoppers: 2024 Thanksgiving weekend shopper count
4. National Retail Federation: 202.9 Million Shoppers: 2025 Thanksgiving weekend record
5. Adobe/Reuters: Cyber Week 2025: $44.2B Cyber Week total

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