Record online Cyber Monday sales expected as shoppers look to save amid high inflation

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you spent the day hunting for a Cyber Monday deal, then you're not alone.

Experts who crunched the numbers say this year's Cyber Monday will likely turn out to be the largest online spending day of all-time.

"At 5 o'clock when I get off, you think I want to go to the store? No, I've been working 10 hours," said Angela Cirillo of Oakland. So no Black Friday shopping last week for her.

"I worked Thursday, Friday, then I did an overtime shift Saturday so it was all holiday pay, so I was about the money those three days," said Lisa Strawn of San Francisco. And no Black Friday shopping for Lisa either.

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But Cyber Monday, well, that's a different story.

"I've wanted a juicer and I was going to look on Amazon but I'm like, I love Target. To be honest I think a lot of people would just rather go online then go in stores you know, you have to remember a lot of it is about safety too," said Strawn.

Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, has been crunching the numbers and expects that when it's all said and done, this Cyber Monday will become the largest online spending day of all-time with around $11.2 billion spent. He says during the pandemic consumers shifted online in greater numbers, and they've stayed there.

"Really it's a big focus for consumers right now, are they getting the best absolute discount given the inflationary trends that we're experiencing in travel and fuel and food? They really wanted the best Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals and that's why we're seeing this day kind of take off in this way," said Pandya.

MORE: Here's why retail discounts could continue even after Black Friday ends

"Did you give in to anything?" We asked Cirillo to which she responded, "Of course I did!"

Yes, while Angela Cirillo did go shopping online Monday, she wasn't totally impressed with 20 to 30% discounts.

"I feel like if you really want to give people a deal, it should be a little bit more than that because obviously inflation is happening, so maybe 50, 60, 70% off would be great! I'm looking at a new laptop cause mine is kind of going, it's old but yeah I just feel like the deals are not as good as I was hoping," said Cirillo.

Fortunately, Pandya says holiday deals between 5 to 20% will likely be sticking around post Cyber Monday, saying the price of goods online are actually currently a bright spot in our economy.

"When we kind of came into this season, online prices were down year-over-year, which there are very few sectors in the economy right now where prices are down compared to last year, but online retail was one of those areas and having these additional holiday discounts on top of those really put consumers in this place."

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