Cyber Monday: Online shoppers set single-day spending record

By Trevor Mogg December 3, 2014

cyber monday online shoppers set single day spending record screwed — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Black Monday may have been a dud for U.S. retailers, but Cyber Monday saw record spending by online shoppers.

Sales for the day hit $2.04 billion, up a sizable 17 percent on last year, research firm comScore reported on Tuesday.

Recommended Videos

It’s the first time online spending in the U.S. has exceeded $2 billion in a single day of shopping, with sales for the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday hitting $6.6 billion in all, marking an increase of 24 percent over last year, comScore said.

“Any notion that Cyber Monday is declining in importance is really unfounded, as it continues to post new historical highs and reflects the ongoing strength of online this holiday season,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a release detailing the stats.

He added that while slow Black Friday sales led some commentators to point to a weakness in the consumer economy, what may actually be happening is “an accelerating shift to online buying as mobile phones spur increased showrooming activity. The data we’re seeing suggest it may be more a change in shopping behavior than a lack of consumer demand.”

While data from IBM suggested a slightly smaller increase in online spending for Cyber Monday compared to last year – 8.5 percent – it agreed with comScore that the figures set a new record for single-day shopping online.

The fact that many big-name retailers started running online deals earlier than usual this year suggests that had they saved them till Cyber Monday, the sales figures for December 1 would’ve been even higher.

“Consumers are not holding back their purchases for deals on certain days anymore and that trend is becoming increasingly clear,” Jay Henderson, strategy program director at IBM, told Reuters.

How was your Cyber Monday shopping experience? Snag any standout deals?

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Computing

How to change margins in Google Docs

Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content --- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Computing

What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app

A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Computing

Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.