So here we are. It’s “Cyber Monday”, a fairly recent term that was coined by the National Retail Federation trade group back in 2005. It’s the Monday after the US Thanksgiving holiday and also thought of as the unofficial kickoff for what’s always hoped to be a busy online retail season. Just check out cybermonday.com and you’ll see the stuff I’m talking about!

Now I realize the term was coined in the US and kudos for that, but to keep it a US only “thing” seems limiting especially since we’re talking online retail. Last time I looked, “online retail” lives on the “World Wide Web” and as the name implies, there’s world-wide reach. Just looking at North America, the one continent where the US sits, US eTailers seem to be forgetting a whole country called Canada and the whole segment of Canadian consumers that go with it.

On the flip side and to be fair, Canadian eTailers are forgetting they need to be competitive with US websites who always seem to be leap years ahead in terms of innovation. After all, everyone surfs the web looking for the perfect buy, and since we’re bouncing in and out of both CDN and US sites, why isn’t there more Cyber Monday hype here in the north? Why not take advantage of an increasingly well known shopping blitz?

So just why does it make sense to think about Canadians (not to mention other geo-areas) as an additional market segment for Cyber Monday penetration? Let’s consider the following:
 
1. Are Canadians online? Yes, big time.
2. Are Canadians browsing websites for online deals and special offers? Yes, .com’s and .ca’s.
3. Are Canadians feeling angst and urgency around holiday shopping lists right now? Yes. Even though our Thanksgiving was in October, a lot of us are gearing up for the big red guy on Dec. 25.

Given the above, what I’m seeing is a half-baked online marketing strategy that completely ignores the full power of the web and all its glorious technological wonders…with technologies like Segment&Serve – Sitebrand’s web personalization platform – it’s really crazy that Cyber Monday is being so limited to the US.

All this said, I’m seeing US retailers coming up with all kinds of great Cyber Monday deals, rebates and discounts. Just look at these 2 examples: 

Cyber Monday Promo

The deals are endless, but considering holiday sales (both in-store and online) are expected to be crappy this year, is further discounting to US consumers really going to save the day? Considering it gouges an already thin margin that’s typical in the eTail space, it’s a tough one. BTW, this is why Sitebrand encourages our online marketing customers to promote the service side of their business too. 

And this brings me right back to a Cyber Monday strategy that taps into geo-targeting. It’s a strategy that should apply to both US and CDN eTailers…at a minimum. Baby steps I’m suggesting…

As for popular Canadian sites or anyone selling online, why aren’t they piggy-backing Cyber Monday urgency? Not one of the following major .ca Canadian eTail sites say anything about Cyber Monday: Zellers, Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Sears. Considering the rate we pop in and out of sites comparing prices etc, it’s another missed opportunity. 

Online stores are global regardless of where they’re based, so why not market accordingly – geo-targeting being a good start, emphasis on service versus discounts being a second smart move – “we ship to Canada” being an effective message.

I guess this leaves us open to debate the big question – why can’t Cyber Monday become a global kick-off to online shopping? Thinking outside the border. It’s quite a thought.

PS – a big thanks to my fellow Sitebranders for all their forwarded websites and emails = they helped a lot!