In a battle for last minute Christmas gifts, yesterday‘s Manic Monday saw a rush of buyers competing over their last attempts at Christmas shopping.
The appropriately titled ‘Manic Monday‘ is based predominantly online and ensures consumers that their goods will arrive in time for Christmas. It comes from the 2013 trend that saw customers confidently trust delivery networks to despatch and deliver their gifts in time for the annual holiday.
The event predicted that sales would increase by 26%, in comparison to 2013‘s 151 million results. Experian and Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) forecast that this would lead to British customers spending £676.5m on Manic Monday, with eBay tweeting, “This #ManicMonday shoppers are predicted to spend an average of £470,000 each minute”. These estimates would have overtaken the traditional Monday performer, Cyber Monday, that predicted sales of £650m.
Up until last year, Cyber Monday, the first Monday in December, had remained the Christmas selling colossal. However, with 2014 seeing an increase in online Black Friday sales, that had traditionally been focused in stores, the 1st December was overtaken by Black Friday calculating transactions to be up by 74%, compared to Cyber Monday‘s 44%. Cyber Monday‘s results are now estimated at £720m, with Black Friday hitting £820m.
Predictions were correct for Manic Monday, which has also overtaken Cyber Monday. The sales event saw up to £500,000 being spent every minute, with key peak times at 7am, 12 midday and 9pm. This has confirmed that Manic Monday was the busiest internet shopping day in the UK this year.
Though Amazon saw its busiest Cyber Monday, with sales peaking at 9.36pm, for the first time in Amazon‘s history, Black Friday topped Cyber Monday. The demand on the Friday led to more than 5.5m items being ordered in 24 hours, paving the way for Amazon‘s most successful week for fashion sales. This left the online giant confident in Manic Monday‘s results as a spokesperson from Amazon stated, ‘Regardless of which day ends up being the busiest, we are ready for whatever December brings with thousands of members of the Amazon team across the UK prepped and ready to pick, pack and deliver the millions of items that will be ordered‘.
As more people have taken to the net over the last few weeks, there had been concern for hackers. Fujitsu revealed that less than 10% of consumers believe businesses aren‘t doing enough to ensure that their data is protected. However, with record breaking sales results yesterday, this didn‘t seem to put customers off.
There was also fear for deliveries, as Rob Norris, Director of Enterprise & Cyber Security in UK & Ireland at Fujitsu, highlighted how many customers had been left, “fearing that they could miss out on offers if websites crash like they did on Cyber Monday”. This also left concern that the event would put too much strain on postal networks, as Paul Doble, Chief Sales and Marketing office at DX, said retailers were in danger of eating off more than they could chew.
Demand did prove problematic for Marks and Spencer, as it had to let customers know that the usual standard delivery of five days, will now take up to two weeks, leaving many customers fearing that their gifts won‘t arrive in time. However, Marks and Spencer has reassured customers that, “The vast majority of orders are delivered on time. If we do miss a delivery date, we will do all we can to rectify it for the customer”
Regardless of which day came out at the top, all three days were an overall success, with each event surpassing its previous year‘s profit. Anxiety over delivery dates and hackers did not put customers off. Even Cyber Monday that has been placed in the back seat this year, has produced impressive figures, showing that the public has confidence in the service that retailers have to offer.
