Something that usually costs too much, may turn out to be more affordable today. Cyber Monday, which this year takes place on 27 November, has become a feast of price reductions and extraordinary turnover for e-commerce.
Today, online shops lure customers in with multiple discounts. They do it with success. The Americans, to whom the world owes the custom of Cyber Monday, count the outcome in billions of dollars. Only two years ago, sales in the USA reached 2.98 billion USD.
Another thing is that traders often prolong November sales from just one day to a few. The shopping race starts on Black Friday - this is also an American concept, which is more famous, older and refers to stationary stores. Black Friday's date is marked by Thanksgiving. The American national holiday is celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of each November. The following day, US citizens take the day off for so-called "free time". On the long weekend, the shopping centres in the USA have captivated and continue to captivate customers with large discounts. The race to buy cheaply sometimes takes a turn for the worst. There have even been a few fatal accidents in the rush and pushes to get through the store doors...
European mix of two opportunities
Fortunately, the physical battles for shopkeepers have recently eased. People are more and more often choosing to shop online and do not even enter stationery stores. That is why on the Friday’s younger brother, Cyber Monday, the day of online sales, was born in 2005. The Chinese have gone down a different road in this respect, with the most trade in online traffic flowing being accumulated on 11 November, the day for singletons. In Europe, it has adopted the custom from America. Online shops also hunt for customers at the end of November, but more often under the motto Black Friday than Cyber Monday, they also often continue the promotional period from Friday to Monday.
Electronic, household equipment, tools, clothes, shoes, fragrances, toys, etc. If you trust the advertisements, you can find these things up to 70 percent cheaper during this period. Online shops and shopping platforms in many European countries are preparing special offers for Cyber Monday. If they do not offer discounts, they encourage occasional free shipment.
Buying abroad today is more tempting than last year
Amazon.de, where prices are being charged in the euro, invites you to a full week of discounts, however, not all of the offered products are delivered to Poland. The discount rates seem to be quite high, e.g. the 55-inch "smart" TV can still be bought today at nearly 600 EUR cheaper. The Xbox One S (500 GB) consoles cost, including discounts, around 210 EUR, with the Conotoxia exchange rate on November 27th, 2017, it is approx. 886 PLN. British eBay on their main site has also been advertising that the sales are coming. Although it remained with the Black Friday name, the 30% discount will continue until Monday at midnight.
It is up to customers to decide whether it is more profitable to use offers in the country or look around on foreign websites, where you sometimes need to consider higher shipping costs and longer delivery time.
Generally, the exchange rate of the Polish zloty in relation to the euro, the GBP or the USD is favourable to Polish customers today. "Purchases on Cyber Monday can be much more profitable than last year. Over the last few months, we have observed a strengthening of the zloty. Both external factors contributed to this, e.g. global depreciation of the dollar and the very good condition of the eurozone economy, both internally and externally. In each of the previous quarters of 2017, the Polish economy grew at a rate of 4% per year. In the third quarter, the GDP growth pace reached up to 5%," explains Bartosz Grejner, Conotoxia Analyst. We have also observed a gradual increase in price levels and a significant improvement in the labour market. The aforementioned factors contributed to the fact that in comparison to last year the euro is now cheaper by approx. 4.5%, the pound by 8% and the dollar by 14%. This increases the attractiveness of cross-border shopping despite higher shipping costs. Therefore, this year's discount on Cyber Monday in foreign stores may turn out to be even more tempting, the Conotoxia Analyst claims.