Cyber Monday may bring in record online sales in 2015

By the time office refrigerators are stuffed with turkey and stuffing leftovers from the Thursday before, analysts expect online shopping will be in full swing come the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Digital marketing firm Adobe predicted earlier this year that Cyber Monday retailers will bring in $3 billion for the first time ever.

Last year, consumers spent more than $2 billion in desktop online spending, according to digital analytics company comScore, which has tracked online shopping since before the phrase “Cyber Monday” was even coined in 2005.

“While Black Friday and Thanksgiving are expected to have well above average growth rates this year, we’re still predicting Cyber Monday to be the heaviest online spending day in history for the sixth straight year,” comScore analyst Adam Lella told Metro.

A decade ago, retailers reported some $484 billion in sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In a recent survey by the NRF, 79.6 percent of the 7,172 people it polled nationwide said they would or may shop on Cyber Monday.

Millennials in particular were excited about Cyber Monday. The same survey found more than 88 percent of respondents between 18 and 24 years old and more than 90 percent between the ages of 25 and 34 plan on pulling out the credit cards and laptops on Monday.

But even with the increased relevance of Cyber Monday over the last few years, online shopping traditionally held for after Thanksgiving is starting earlier. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, announced it would preempt Cyber Monday with discounted shopping by Sunday.

“We expect retailers will offer exclusive savings each day of the big weekend, including Thanksgiving and Black Friday-only deals and even extended Cyber Monday promotions throughout the week that follows,” said Matthew Shay, president of the National Retail Federation, in a statement.

Still, Lella of comScore said that extended shopping days shouldn’t deter online shoppers come Monday, since weekends tend to perform weaker than the post-Thanksgiving work week days.

“So even if the weekend does see greater growth than in past years, it likely won’t be enough to meaningfully affect Cyber Monday’s sales,” he said