Consumers expected to spend up to N460 billion on deals

After an eventful weekend with Black Friday and Thanksgiving, consumers in the U.S are expected to hit the online stores again for Cyber Monday deals.

Today, which is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, has been the biggest online shopping day of the year since 2010. According to a research firm, people are expected to spend up to $2.5 billion (N 459,874,987,583.38) on Cyber Monday.

E-commerce firm, PayPal said its global mobile payment volume jumped 47 percent on Thanksgiving Day compared with last year. Wal-Mart said it had more than 500 million page views on Thanksgiving, and eBay says it sold 2,000 iPad Air 2 tablets for $399 at a rate of one a second.

Amazon has been offering special deals since November 21, 2014, adding new discounts as often as every 10 minutes for eight days straight. Deals include up to 45 percent off some Samsung TVs and 28 percent off Beats by Dre headphones, selling for $275. Wal-Mart on the other hand, said it has doubled its Cyber Week deals to 500 compared with last year, including up to half off some TVs, tablets and toys with free-shipping offers.

The name "Cyber Monday" was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation's online arm, Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online. After retailers revved up deals for the day, it became the busiest online shopping day in 2010. The name was also a nod to online shopping being done at work, where faster connections made it easier to browse, less of a factor now.

So far, the Cyber Monday trend is slowly catching on Nigeria, though the country is still adjusting and getting used to Black Friday which ended with mixed feelings last weekend.

Hopefully, by next year Nigerian online retail stores will be more active on Cyber Monday, but first, they need to master the art of meeting consumer needs effectively before taking the leap.

Do you agree? If not, share your thoughts with us in the comments box!