DURBAN
- Cyber Monday is expected to be the biggest shopping day of the year for online shoppers.
Black Friday is followed by Cyber Monday. Both of these days are marketing phenomenons has attracted the attention of retailers and consumers in South Africa.
Cyber Monday is the day that traditional retailers will offer exclusive website deals to customers. It was introduced in 2003 to push sales to online retailers.
According to the Balance website, online shoppers are expected to spend about $6,6 billion on Cyber Monday compared to Black Friday which only raked in $5 billion.
Cyber Monday is expected to help improve South Africa's adoption of e-Commerce.
CEO of FNB Consumer, Dr Christoph Nieuwoudt, said that the e-Commerce in South Africa will probably get a boost around Black Friday because consumers will want to avert the long queues associated on these days.
Nieuwoudt said "Any savvy shopper can cash-in on the specials without spending time in the queues. While e-Commerce is still in infancy in South Africa compared to global standards both the consumer and retail sectors are warming up to the use of technology to deliver and acquire your goods and services".
Many South African companies are jumping on the bandwagon and offering Cyber Mondays sales.
Online clothing stores like Forever New South Africa and Spree have up to 35% on their products. Edcon subsidiaries Edgars and CNA are also participating in Cyber Monday. Edgars is offering up to 50% off of their items.
South African mobile networks like MTN, Telkom and Vodacom are also offering Cyber Monday deals on items like cell phones, data and tablets.