Cyber Monday offers same benefits as Black Friday, none of the hassle

Alice Scott '21, Staff Writer
November 25, 2019

For many, Thanksgiving alone is exhausting, whether it’s being in charge of cooking a feast, travelling for hours in the holiday rush or simply entertaining friends and family. After the holiday is over, Friday is the perfect day to recover from the turkey-induced food coma, eat leftovers and just relax. The last thing I can imagine wanting to do is wake up at 5 a.m. to fight shoppers for the best deals during Black Friday madness. Luckily, there is a superior alternative that can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home: Cyber Monday.
Cyber Monday is the Monday following Thanksgiving where many online retailers promote the same (or similar) sales offered on Black Friday, but in a much more convenient way. Shoppers can get exceptional deals at just the click of a button–instead of the chaos of a mall.
Cyber Monday requires significantly less planning than Black Friday. Instead of having to plan out which stores to hit first, what time they open and which have the best sales, you can bookmark websites and products in advance and compare prices by simply switching between tabs, as opposed to fighting your way between stores. Plus, you can forget lugging countless bags and boxes around a mall when it can be delivered to you with minimal effort on your part.
All that added stress can prove to be extremely disappointing when many stores end up selling out of popular products quickly– making the whole effort pointless. However, ordering online on Cyber Monday, the items available are not limited to what is in stock in a store; there is much more opportunity to check everything off your shopping list quickly and easily without overspending on things that catch your eye in store that you weren’t looking to buy originally.
In addition to the mayhem of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, there is also an increased risk of getting hurt. According to Black Friday Death Count, there have been at least 12 deaths and 117 injuries reported in the U.S. between 2006 and 2018. On the other hand, there is minimal danger in sitting on your couch shopping online. I think it’s fairly clear which one sounds more appealing.
For students here at South, Thanksgiving break is only five days, so don’t waste one of them fighting through a mall when chances are, all your favorite stores and brands have killer deals online that you can check out anytime Monday.
Many Black Friday sales simply carry over to Cyber Monday, so don’t force yourself to brave the winter weather and overwhelming crowds. Instead of making the trip out to Somerset, just visit the websites of popular outlets like LuluLemon, PacSun, Forever21, H&M and many others to find everything– and more– that you could on Black Friday.
If all that isn’t enough, listen to the numbers. According to Business Insider, Cyber Monday deals are actually better, with an average of 21 percent saved across the board, as opposed to 18.5 percent on Black Friday.
So, if you’re like me, and you’d rather sleep in and have a leftovers-feast for lunch on Nov. 28 instead of throwing elbows in a 2-hour line, skip the crowds and get all the benefits just a few days later, delivered right to your doorstep.