Cyber Monday is the biggest online shopping day of the year, generating $14.25 billion in US sales in 2025. This guide covers what it is, when it falls, the best deal categories, and how to combine coupons and discounts for the biggest savings.
Our team regularly tests the deals mentioned here.
You’ve seen the headlines. “$14 billion in a single day.” But what is Cyber Monday, really, and why does it keep breaking records while Black Friday gets all the TV coverage?
Here’s the short answer: Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving and the biggest online shopping day of the year in the United States. It falls between November 26 and December 2, depending on the year, and it generates more US online sales than any other day on the calendar, Black Friday included.
But there’s more to it than that.
TL;DR: Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving and the largest single-day e-commerce event in the US. In 2025, shoppers spent $14.25 billion online in one day. Best deals: electronics (31% avg discount), toys (28%), and apparel (25%). Stack coupons, shop in the evening, and compare prices across stores for maximum savings.
Cyber Monday Origins and Definition
Cyber Monday is an annual online shopping event created in 2005 by Ellen Davis and Scott Silverman of the National Retail Federation. They coined the term after noticing that the Monday following Thanksgiving had become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, largely because workers were returning to fast office broadband connections after a weekend at home on slower dial-up.
That detail is worth sitting with. The whole thing started as a practical observation about internet speeds, not a retail strategy. Stores jumped in quickly because there was money to be made, and the name stuck well past the dial-up era.
Mainstream media was already covering it by 2006. Six years later, the day crossed the $1 billion mark in US online sales for the first time. By 2019, it had hit $9.4 billion. Fast forward to 2025, and US consumers spent $14.25 billion online in a single day, a 7.1% jump over the previous year.
So in 20 years, a press release observation became the largest single-day e-commerce event in American history. That’s not nothing.
How Big Is Cyber Monday Now?
Let’s be specific, because the scale is hard to put into context.
During peak hours on Cyber Monday 2025, US shoppers were spending $16 million per minute between 8 and 10 PM Eastern. The year before, that number was $15.8 million per minute. It’s trending up.
Around 75.9 million US consumers shopped online on Cyber Monday 2025, up from 64.4 million in 2024. That’s a significant jump. For context, the full Thanksgiving weekend drew a record 202.9 million shoppers across online and in-store in 2025. The five-day Cyber Week stretch (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) totaled $44.2 billion in US online sales in 2025. Cyber Monday alone accounted for nearly a third of that.
$16 million per minute. That’s what US shoppers spent during Cyber Monday’s peak hours in 2025 – between 8 and 10 PM Eastern.
Cyber Monday Sales by Year
Here’s the historical picture, because these numbers tell a story no single data point can:
| Year | US Online Sales |
|---|---|
| 2005 | ~$484 million |
| 2012 | ~$1.5 billion |
| 2019 | $9.4 billion |
| 2023 | $12.4 billion |
| 2024 | $13.3 billion |
| 2025 | $14.25 billion |
The growth isn’t slowing down. That’s the thing most people don’t expect.
Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday: Which Is Actually Better?
This is the question everyone has. And the honest answer is: it depends what you mean by “better.”
Online, Cyber Monday wins. It’s not even close. Cyber Monday 2024 hit $13.3 billion in US online sales vs. Black Friday’s $10.8 billion. That’s a $2.5 billion gap in Cyber Monday’s favor.
But Black Friday actually drew more online shoppers (87.3 million vs. Cyber Monday’s 64.4 million). So how do fewer shoppers add up to more sales?
It comes down to average order value. Cyber Monday shoppers tend to do focused, high-ticket buying. The average order ran around $651 on Cyber Monday compared to roughly $251 on Black Friday, according to Adobe and NRF data. Fewer people, bigger carts.
| Metric | Black Friday 2024 | Cyber Monday 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| US Online Sales | $10.8 billion | $13.3 billion |
| Online Shoppers | 87.3 million | 64.4 million |
| Average Order Value | ~$251 | ~$651 |
| Peak Spend Per Minute | $11.3 million | $15.8 million |
In-store? Black Friday still dominates. Doorbuster items, same-day pickup, and the physical experience are Black Friday’s edge. If you’re buying a TV you want to carry home the same day, Black Friday is your window. If you’re shopping for electronics and software from your couch, Cyber Monday is the better play.
What Sells Best on Cyber Monday?
Not everything gets discounted equally. Based on deal patterns we’ve tracked, a few categories consistently deliver the steepest cuts.
Electronics are the anchor. Discounts averaged 31% on Cyber Monday 2025, a slight bump from 30.1% the year before. Laptops, tablets, headphones, and gaming consoles usually move the most. Best Buy runs some of its most aggressive tech deals of the year during this window, while Amazon competes across nearly every category.
Toys hit 28% average discounts in 2025. LEGO sets and character toys sell fast, so don’t wait until the day itself to figure out what you want.
Apparel averaged 25% discounts in 2025. Target and Kohl’s typically offer the better clothing deals during Cyber Week. Kohl’s even allows stacking a store card or Kohl’s Cash on top of sale prices, which can bring the effective discount well above the headline number.
Home and kitchen items are strong performers too. Large appliances sometimes see their lowest prices of the year here, with Walmart tending to run deep cuts on home goods.
Software and subscriptions often go overlooked. Digital deals can run deeper than physical goods because there’s no shipping cost involved. VPNs, streaming services, and cloud storage regularly hit their annual lows on Cyber Monday.
What most guides miss is that the discount depth varies by retailer as much as category. From the thousands of coupon codes we track, electronics retailers like Best Buy and Newegg tend to run the deepest verified codes on Cyber Monday, often stacking on top of sale prices. Meanwhile, apparel stores frequently use in-house promotions rather than shareable codes, which changes how you have to approach them.
How to Stack Deals on Cyber Monday
This is where DontPayFull’s experience comes in, and it’s worth explaining in practical terms.
The biggest savings on Cyber Monday come from combining discounts that most shoppers treat as separate. Say a retailer has laptops at 30% off. If there’s also a stackable coupon code available, you can apply a further 10-15% on top. Add a cashback offer from a portal, and the effective discount compounds fast. A 30% sale plus a 12% code plus 5% cashback works out to roughly 43% off the original price.
The catch? Not every store allows stacking. Kohl’s is known for it; most electronics retailers aren’t. Before you assume a code works on a sale item, check the fine print. Exclusive sale pricing often excludes coupon codes in the terms.
From the data we’ve tracked, public coupon codes tend to go live at midnight Eastern on Cyber Monday itself. Email subscriber codes often drop 48 hours earlier. If you’re on a retailer’s email list, that’s a two-day head start.
Our Chrome extension tests available codes automatically at checkout, which saves you the manual search when you’re buying across multiple stores.
How Retailers Prepare for Cyber Monday
Retailers don’t just flip a switch on Monday morning. Preparation starts weeks in advance. Landing pages are built, deal automation is configured for specific SKUs, and pricing is negotiated with suppliers. The discounts you see are usually locked in with vendors long before the day arrives.
That’s why price matching after the event is often harder than during other periods. The retailer committed to specific terms with the supplier, and once the event is over, those constraints are gone.
Inventory is the real challenge. Some items sell out within hours. Here’s something you won’t find in generic guides: the “sold out” situation is sometimes a pricing strategy. Limited quantities at the maximum discount create urgency. When the first batch sells out, the item often reappears at a less aggressive price. The retailer still benefits.
Email subscribers typically get early access 24-48 hours before the public. App users sometimes get an extra 5-10% stacked on the price. The public deal on Cyber Monday morning is rarely the best one available.
Cyber Monday Goes Global
Cyber Monday started as a US phenomenon, but it’s spread significantly. The event is now observed in Canada, the UK, Germany, Brazil, and across much of Europe, either under the Cyber Monday name or as part of a localized equivalent.
The context: 78% of EU internet users made at least one online purchase in 2025 (Eurostat), and EU e-commerce transaction volume reached an estimated €890 billion that year. That kind of market makes Cyber Week a massive sales window for brands selling internationally. Salesforce reported that global Cyber Week 2025 online spending hit $336.6 billion, dwarfing the US-only figure.
Mobile and AI: Two Trends Reshaping Cyber Monday
Over 57% of Cyber Monday purchases in 2025 came from mobile devices, totaling $8.2 billion. Desktop shopping is now the minority experience. If a retailer’s mobile checkout is clunky or their app is slow, they’re losing sales at scale.
The AI angle is newer but growing fast. Retail traffic from AI assistants jumped 670% on Cyber Monday 2025. Shoppers are using AI tools to find deals and compare products before even heading to a retailer’s site. AI and agents drove an estimated $67 billion in global Cyber Week sales in 2025.
Is this a gimmick? Not anymore. The referral traffic numbers suggest shoppers are actually changing how they discover deals.
Upcoming Cyber Monday Dates
Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which is always the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.
| Year | Cyber Monday Date |
|---|---|
| 2025 | December 1 |
| 2026 | November 30 |
| 2027 | November 29 |
| 2028 | November 27 |
Mark 2026 now: November 30. Deals typically start rolling out the weekend before. For the full picture, see our 2026 shopping calendar.
A few things that actually move the needle. Not the generic “make a list” advice.
Check price history before the event. The “sale” price on Cyber Monday is sometimes just the normal street price with a shiny sale badge. Cross-reference the last 90 days of pricing to know whether you’re looking at a real discount.
Shop in the evening. The data backs this up. Peak spending happens between 8 and 10 PM Eastern, and retailers often release their deepest markdowns in that window. Based on past patterns, the late-evening push brings the steepest electronics discounts specifically.
Compare across stores. The same laptop can be priced meaningfully differently between Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart on the same day. It takes five minutes and is almost always worth the effort.
Don’t let BNPL push you into an unplanned purchase. Buy Now Pay Later hit $1.03 billion on Cyber Monday 2025. A 0% installment plan on a purchase you planned for is smart; using it to rationalize buying something you hadn’t budgeted for is a trap.
Look past the big-box retailers. Platforms like Etsy and specialized resellers sometimes run comparable discounts with less inventory pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What day is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November). It falls between November 26 and December 2 each year. In 2026, it’s November 30.
Is Cyber Monday only online?
It started that way, but many retailers now run hybrid promotions. The core is still online deals, and the biggest numbers come from e-commerce. You’ll see some physical stores participate, but in-store Cyber Monday deals are far less common than Black Friday doorbusters.
What’s the difference between Cyber Monday and Black Friday?
Black Friday drives more in-store traffic. Cyber Monday consistently generates more total US online sales. The two events have mostly blurred into “Cyber Week,” but for pure online shopping, Cyber Monday still has the larger dollar volume.
What sells best on Cyber Monday?
Electronics see the deepest average discounts (31% in 2025), followed by toys (28%) and apparel (25%). Laptops, gaming consoles, and smart home devices are the perennial top movers.
Is Cyber Monday better than waiting for other sales?
For electronics and toys, Cyber Monday is usually one of the best windows of the year. Apparel sometimes beats Cyber Monday pricing during post-holiday clearance in January, but it depends on the brand.
How long do Cyber Monday deals last?
Officially, it’s one day. In practice, retailers extend it through “Cyber Week.” However, high-demand electronics at the deepest discounts are usually gone within hours of going live.
Sources
- Adobe Analytics: Cyber Monday 2025: Record $14.25B in US online sales, mobile share, BNPL, AI traffic data (2025)
- Adobe Analytics: Cyber Monday 2024 Recap: $13.3B US online sales, peak spend per minute (2024)
- NRF: Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend 2025: Record 202.9 million shoppers (2025)
- NRF: Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend 2024: 197 million shoppers, 64.4 million on Cyber Monday (2024)
- Reuters/Adobe: Cyber Week 2025 Total: $44.2B five-day Cyber Week US online spending (2025)
- Salesforce: Cyber Week 2025 Global: $336.6B global Cyber Week, AI-driven sales data (2025)
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