Jeremiah Bott It's official: Cyber Monday is having its biggest sales day ever Article 9/10

Over the holiday weekend Americans spent massive amounts of money on Black Friday shopping. With

most sales coming from mobile devices, Cyber Monday is expected to bring in even more. Adobe Analytics is

predicting a 19% increase from last year, with expected $9.4 billion in sales. Salesforce also projects new

records, but only an increase of 15% to $8 billion. By 11:30 am sales surpassed $470 million and Adobe expects

the final hours of the day will bring in the most money, roughly $11 million spent per minute at peak.

This article discusses Black Friday and Cyber Monday and how the market1 (Any arrangement through

which buyers and sellers exchange final goods and services) is transitioning to mostly online sales. Black Friday

and Cyber Monday have historically been days that bring in massive amounts of money due to huge sales.

Putting big ticket items that normally have a fixed cost2 (consists of costs that do not vary as output varies and

that must be paid even if output is zero) on sale is a great incentive3 (something that induces a person to act) for

individuals to save up a little bit so they can splurge on sales as the prices decrease to meet their buyer’s

reservation price4 (the largest dollar amount the buyer would be willing to pay for a good). These companies

have clearly conducted a marginal analysis5 (comparison of marginal benefits and marginal costs) and found the

cheapest price they can sell their goods6 (tangible items) or services7 (intangible items) for while still turning a

profit. The marginal cost8 (the additional cost associated with adding 1 additional quantity) must remain smaller

than the marginal revenue9 (the extra revenue generated by selling 1 more unit) if they want to maintain

positive accounting profit10 (accounting profit= sales revenue – total explicit costs), economic profit11 (economic

profit = revenue – economic costs (explicit and implicit)), and cover their total costs12(the sum of all payments

made to the firm’s fixed and variable factors of production. The opportunity cost13 (the value of the best

alternative choice sacrificed) of selling higher quantities of an item in one day must be better than having those

sales spread out, or these firms14 (any organization of individuals that purchase factors of production in order to

produce goods and services that are sold to consumers) would not be able to operate using this tactic in the long

run15 (a period which all factors of production can be varied). Many technology16 (the practical applications of

scientific knowledge) companies use Black Friday and Cyber Monday to get an advantage in their rivalry17 (when

one person buys and consumes a good, it is not available to others) against other tech companies. Apple is a
Jeremiah Bott It's official: Cyber Monday is having its biggest sales day ever Article 9/10
18
great example of this, as nearly all of their products are private goods (produced and sold in a competitive

market) and they come out with new products yearly, which keeps many of their products in high demand19 (the

ability and willingness to buy specific quantities of a good at alternative prices in a given time period) over the

holiday season. Many of these firms must increase production beforehand to create an artificial producer

surplus20 (the amount producers receive in excess of the amount necessary to induce them to produce the good)

in order to have the inventory attainable21 (any combination of goods that can be produces using currently

available resources) for consumers. If there is a scarcity22 of inventory, it could prove to be detrimental to any

company throughout the holiday season. The increase in online sales is a clear indication of how our society is

transitioning to the digital age and perhaps in-store purchases will eventually become obsolete.
Jeremiah Bott It's official: Cyber Monday is having its biggest sales day ever Article 9/10
https://www.ksl.com/article/46684408/its-official-cyber-monday-is-having-its-biggest-sales-day-ever

NEW YORK (CNN) — Black Friday was huge, but Cyber Monday will be even bigger.

Americans will spend a record amount of money this Cyber Monday following an already record-
breaking Black Friday and Thanksgiving, according to three different sales reports.
Adobe Analytics projects that Monday will be the largest online shopping day in US history with $9.4
billion in sales — a 19% increase from last year.

So far, sales have surpassed $470 million and Adobe expects the final four hours of the day (10 pm ET
to 2 am ET) will account for 30% of the day's revenue. Around $11 million will be spent per minute in
the 11 pm ET hour Monday.

This increase in sales can be attributed to two factors: Severe weather across the country, which is
forcing people to stay home, and a shorter holiday shopping season. Adobe is also predicting a major
year for shopping on mobile devices.
"Consumers are reimagining what it means to shop during the holidays, with smartphones having a
breakout season as well," Taylor Schreiner, head of Adobe Digital Insights, said in a press release. "We
expect that consumers will spend $14 billion more this holiday season via their phones."

Americans spent $7.4 billion on Black Friday and $4.2 billion on Thanksgiving. Both were increases of
20% over last year, according to Adobe.

Salesforce also projects new records for Cyber Monday with Americans spending $8 billion, a 15%
increase over last year. The sales extravaganza is also taking off on a global scale, with sales for
Monday growing 12% over last year to $30 billion.

Roughly 75% of shopping done over the previous weekend was on a mobile device, which Salesforce
said was "another groundbreaking period" for mobile.
Shopify, an online sales platform that is used by more than 1 million merchants, said that Monday's
global sales data has already surpassed $1.5 billion. That is more than the sales from the full weekend
last year. Mobile was also a popular way for shoppers to buy, according to Shopify with 70% sales
transactions on portable devices.

The shorter holiday season is sending retailers scrambling to offer deep discounts before Christmas.
Jason Woosley, Adobe's vice president of commerce product and platform, previously told CNN
Business that he estimates consumers will spend $29 billion online between Thursday and Monday. That
five-day "Cyber Week" period should account for a 20% chunk of the $143.8 billion in online sales
Adobe predicted for this holiday season.

The breakout shopping hits on Black Friday of this year were the Nintendo Switch, sports-centric video
games like NBA2K and Apple AirPods Pro, according to Wedbush Securities analysts.