In the wake of Black Friday comes Cyber Monday, its online equivalent. While many online shoppers have been availing of US Thanksgiving-style deals since last week, we’ve checked out what’s on offer online today for Irish consumers.
Visa Europe claims Irish consumers will spend on average €227 online this Christmas, equating to about €420m in online sales.
A Deloitte customer survey for Debenhams Ireland conducted this month claims that 37pc of all Irish Christmas gift shopping will be done online this year, with 3m deliveries estimated for December.
Mega Monday (or, 10 December) is predicted to be the busiest online shopping day in Europe, but Cyber Monday is set to kick it all off today.
The tech deals
Amazon.com has another week of offers on the table with Cyber Monday Deals Week, hitting customers with new deals every day this week. Meanwhile, Adobe’s Black Friday discounts are available until 28 November – just remember to use the coupon code ‘BF2012’ at the checkout to avail of them .
Big Fish Games has been celebrating ‘Novemberfest’ with a special sales event every day this month and, now the month is nearing its end, the site is having a Cyber Week Blowout Sale, offering more than 170 PC games for US$2.99 (working out at about €2.29 at the checkout). This offer is valid until 30 November using the coupon code ‘CYBER’.
Online games portal Steam’s well-timed autumn sale ends today, making this the last chance for users to avail of deals on games like Batman: Arkham City, Sonic Generations and Dishonored.
Richard Pearson, owner of Pong Ireland, let us know on our Facebook page that the company is offering 20pc off all smartphone and iPad cases for the next two days with the discount code ‘cyber Monday’.
Incidentally, iBOOD.ie, which aims to highlight the best offer available online each day, has a techie deal for us today: an Onkyo speaker dock for iDevices down from €299.95 to €99.95 (plus shipping charges).
The non-tech deals
While Cyber Monday is an online phenomenon, the deals are not exclusively for tech enthusiasts, and plenty of online retailers – even those based in Ireland – have deals going live for the day that’s in it.
For example, Debenhams Ireland has launched free Christmas delivery for its online shoppers today to coincide with Cyber Monday, while AllPosters.ie is offering 30pc off everything with the code ‘DDEP29’ today only.
RevolveClothing.com – which offers free international delivery year-round – has been hosting a Total Blackout Cyber Weekend since Friday. Using specified codes at the checkout, shoppers can avail of money off depending on how much they spend (ie, US$15 off purchases of US$100 or more with the code ‘CYBERWEEKEND15’).
For today only, Society6 is offering free international shipping on thousands of prints, iPhone cases, T-shirts, pillows and more from its base of artists; daily deals site GrabOne is offering an additional 10pc off everything; while Puma has 20pc off everything in its online store – even sale products – using the code ‘cyber20’.
Label lovers should know that designer fashion outlet The Outnet is offering free shipping on all orders of stg£200 or more with promotional code ‘GOODIE48’ until tomorrow at 10am, while DKNY has 25pc off all items, excluding watches, fragrance and hosiery for Cyber Monday only.
And finally, Celtic Promise’s heritage jewelry with a contemporary twist is 10pc off today with free shipping to Ireland (it obviously knows its market) with the coupon code ‘CM1210’ entered at the checkout.
Caveat emptor
While online deals can be tempting, shoppers should beware of false economy. A recent study published in The Wall Street Journal shows that some retailers use big shopping days like Cyber Monday and Black Friday to make something seem like a great deal when really it may have been cheaper at other times during the year.
You may have noticed how many of these one-day deals require shoppers to enter a promotional code at the checkout, so make sure you use it and ensure that the correct discount has been applied before completing the purchase.
As always when shopping online, it’s advisable to shop smart, shop safe, and try not to get carried away.
UPDATE: A few more Cyber Monday deals have been brought to our attention. By visiting Beauty Features’ Facebook page, users can generate a discount code for use on orders on the site up to 1pm tomorrow. CA Design is offering up to 50pc off American designer furniture in a Cyber Monday sale. And a tip for Etsy shoppers: search for “cyber Monday” and you’ll find that some crafters have a good deal to offer.
If you know of any Cyber Monday offers for Irish shoppers that we may have missed, let us know on Facebook or Twitter
