By Cotton Mayer
Most people know that Cyber Monday is the online version of Black Friday and they both straddle the weekend after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday was thought up by retailers who didn’t want their stores destroyed again on the Monday after Black Friday… no, that’s not exactly correct. “Cyber Monday was created to encourage people to shop online,” says Wiki.
Now I know.
In the new age of the Internet of Things and computers in our pockets, it seemed like a good excuse to get customers to order more stuff online and keep the holiday shopping frenzy going. With Thanksgiving in the rear view and visions of gift giving all in our heads, people could gather round the internet and get gifts and snacks delivered right to their doorstep.
Cyber Monday was hatched in 2005 and has grown exponentially since, to the tune of $7.9 billion (yes, billion$) in online sales in 2018! That’s a 19% increase from the previous year! According to this techcrunch.com article $2.2 billion of those sales were purchased on tablets and smartphones. Wow.
One of the cool things about Cyber Monday versus Black Friday is that smaller retail websites can compete with large corporate chains. Think about it, you don’t go to the store and choose from the limited selection on hand, you type in what you want and pick the raddest item of them all, amirite? Props to ecommerce.
So, who came up with such a (un)cool name for this shopaholic celebration? The moniker was devised by Ellen Davis for the 2005 holiday season. However, the Cyber Monday Wikipedia page notes that the general idea for such a “holiday” was launched by Tony Valado at 1800Flowers.com in 2003. 1-800-Flowers just happens to be one of our vendors, so shout out to the flower people!
If you haven’t figured it out yet, mynpp.com is an online shopping site for businesses and their employees. We offer our members discounts and special pricing on brands they use, such as Verizon, Sherwin-Williams, Staples, Priceline and more. And, get this, NPP membership is free!
Companies of all sizes, from diverse industries, enjoy cost-cutting business deals and share employee discounts with their teams. It’s a win win win.
Don’t believe it? We have more than 300,000 members coast to coast and we’ve been in business since 2001. You can learn more about National Purchasing Partners (NPP) by contacting NPP customer service at customerservice@mynpp.com or 800.810.3909.
Or you can just sign up your business for free and start shopping top tier discounts you thought were reserved for giant corporations. Now THAT’s the deal… and you don’t have to wait until Cyber Monday to get it.
NPP does not guarantee supplier offers or their website performance. Suppliers are solely responsible for all supplier products and services offered through NPP. Offers may be suspended or terminated at any time and may be subject to product restrictions, exclusions and eligibility requirements.
About National Purchasing Partners (NPP)
NPP is a trusted savings provider for businesses and their employees. By leveraging the purchasing power of more than 300,000 members, NPP can provide top discounts and special B2B pricing to businesses of all sizes. NPP is owned by non-profit hospitals and a substantial portion of NPP proceeds goes to support medical research at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) in Seattle, WA.