The History of Cyber Monday

Ever wonder how Cyber Monday got its start? The term was coined in 2005 by Ellen Davis, the senior vice president of research and strategic initiatives for the National Retail Federation. The NRF had noticed a spike in online traffic and revenue on the Monday after Thanksgiving for several years in a row. They believed it was because people were buying things at work, where the computers were faster and kids couldn’t peek at the screen to see their gifts. The group issued a statement debuting the term “Cyber Monday” in a press release just before Thanksgiving in 2005. They considered using the name “Blue Monday” (named for blue hyperlinks) but dismissed it because it sounded too depressing. They also considered “Black Monday” (named after Black Friday) but decided against it because the name also refers to the day world stock markets crashed. After The New York Times used the new term, it spread quickly, and on the newly-named Cyber Monday in 2005, online sales reached almost a half-billion dollars. However, it wasn’t the biggest online shopping day of the year. But in 2014, Cyber Monday did become the biggest online shopping day of the year in America, with sales totaling over $2 billion. And each year since, that number has gone up. On Cyber Monday 2020, Americans spent over $9 billion on online purchases!