Why Cyber Monday May Not Matter Anymore

Nov. 25, 2012 — -- Unlike previous years, Cyber Monday is not a better day to shop online or for electronics than Black Friday.

Cyber Monday was first widely publicized by Shop.org in 2005 to persuade shoppers to buy online, as people were still warming to e-commerce.

These days, many people are not only warming to shopping on their desktop computers, but also making purchases on their mobile devices. And early indications are that online shoppers aren't waiting for Monday.

According to payments company, PayPal, on Thanksgiving Day alone, the company saw global mobile payment volume increase 173 percent compared to the holiday last year. The number of global customers who shopped through PayPal mobile increased 164 percent compared to Thanksgiving last year.

So, what are the categories that may have the best and worst deals?

Lindsay Sakraida, features director at deals site Dealnews, doesn't go so far as to say don't buy electronics on Cyber Monday, but she dispelled the myth that it is better to wait to buy electronics online rather than shop earlier on Thanksgiving weekend.

Sakraida said apparel and accessories may be better to buy on Cyber Monday rather than the preceding weekend.

Last year, the number of deals for apparel and accessories increased 27 percent on Cyber Monday compared to Black Friday, while there was an increase of 20 percent in Dealnews' Editors' Choice deals, what the editors deem are the best offers. A similar trend is also seen for home and garden deals, Sakraida said.

"Meanwhile, the volume of camera, laptop, tablet, and smartphone deals dropped after Black Friday, while TVs curiously saw a minor uptick," she wrote on Dealnews.com.

Some retailers, like Apple, are offering deals only on Black Friday.

Read more: Apple's Black Friday Deals

Others have killer door busters for a very small number of products only in the first hours after a store opens, like Best Buy.

Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday may have a large volume of inventory on sale, but they might not have the steepest discounts.

The two times of the year that offer the steepest online discounts are January to February and August to September, when discounts average 46 percent, according to Tamra Feldman, vice president of marketing at personalized shopping deals site Shop It To Me.

Read more: 5 Things Not to Buy on Black Friday