What Is Cyber Monday? Meaning, History and the 2026 Date

Updated November 2026

Cyber Monday is the online shopping day held on the Monday after US Thanksgiving, when retailers run their biggest web-only and online-first deals. In 2026 it falls on Monday, November 30, three days after Black Friday. The name was coined in 2005, and Cyber Monday is now the single biggest online shopping day of the year in the US.

Cyber Monday 2026 Quick Facts

Question	Answer
What is Cyber Monday?	An online shopping event on the Monday after Thanksgiving
When is Cyber Monday 2026?	Monday, November 30, 2026
When was the term coined?	2005, by Shop.org, the online retail arm of the National Retail Federation
How big was it last year?	$14.25 billion in US online spending on Cyber Monday 2025, according to Adobe Analytics
What is Cyber Week?	The run of online deals around Cyber Monday, usually Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday or the full week after it
What comes after it?	Giving Tuesday and Travel Tuesday on December 1, 2026

What Does Cyber Monday Mean?

The word "cyber" was a 1990s and early-2000s way of saying "online", as in cyberspace. Cyber Monday simply means the Monday when people shop online. Black Friday was built around crowded stores and doorbuster lines, while Cyber Monday was built around shopping from a computer, and today mostly from a phone.

In practice, Cyber Monday is now less of a single day and more the end point of the Black Friday weekend. Many stores keep their Black Friday prices running into Monday, then add new online-only offers, sitewide percentage discounts or promo codes for Cyber Monday itself. Some brands, especially in software, subscriptions, beauty and fashion, save their deepest discounts for Monday rather than Friday.

The History of Cyber Monday

Where the name came from (2005)

The term "Cyber Monday" was coined in late November 2005 by Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation (NRF). Ellen Davis, who worked at the NRF at the time, is usually credited with the idea. Online retailers had told Shop.org that they saw a jump in sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the team wanted a catchy name to encourage more people to shop online that day. The name first appeared in a Shop.org press release that month, and the media picked it up quickly.

Why Monday?

In the mid-2000s, many households still had slow home internet or none at all. People went back to work after the long Thanksgiving weekend, where they had fast office connections, and used them to finish the shopping they had started over the weekend. Retailers noticed that pattern before the day had a name. The name then turned an existing habit into an annual event.

From one day to a season

For its first few years, Cyber Monday was mainly a day of email offers and free-shipping promotions. As online shopping grew, it became a full sales event. By the 2010s it regularly beat Black Friday for online spending, and retailers began stretching it into "Cyber Weekend" and "Cyber Week". Today the event is also big outside the US, including in the UK, Canada, Australia and much of Europe, even though those countries do not celebrate US Thanksgiving.

How Big Is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is the largest online shopping day of the year in the US. According to Adobe Analytics, shoppers spent $14.25 billion online on Cyber Monday 2025, up 7.1% from the year before. That compares with $11.8 billion on Black Friday 2025. Across the whole "Cyber Week" from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, Adobe recorded $44.2 billion in US online spending.

A few other 2025 numbers from Adobe help explain how people shop on the day:

• Mobile: 57.5% of Cyber Monday 2025 online sales were made on a phone.
• Buy now, pay later: about $1.03 billion of Cyber Monday 2025 spending used BNPL services.
• Peak time: the busiest stretch was 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., when shoppers spent about $16 million a minute.
• Biggest discounts by category: electronics (peaking at about 31% off list price), toys (28%), apparel (25%), computers (23%) and televisions (22%).

These are 2025 figures. Adobe usually publishes its Cyber Monday results the day after the event, so 2026 numbers should be out around December 1, 2026.

Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday: What Is the Difference?

The two events overlap a lot now, but they still have different strengths.

	Black Friday	Cyber Monday
2026 date	Friday, November 27	Monday, November 30
Where	In stores and online	Mostly online
Origin of the name	Philadelphia police slang from the 1950s and 1960s; later linked to stores moving "into the black"	Coined by Shop.org in 2005
Typical deals	Doorbusters on TVs, appliances, toys and big-ticket items	Sitewide percentage discounts, promo codes, tech, fashion, beauty and subscriptions
Online spending in 2025 (Adobe)	$11.8 billion	$14.25 billion
Stock	Limited-quantity doorbusters can sell out early	Online stock can also sell out, but restocks and extended deals are common

In short: Black Friday is still the day for in-store doorbusters and some of the lowest prices on big electronics. Cyber Monday is usually better for online-only brands, sitewide codes and categories where stores compete on percentage discounts, such as clothing, beauty and software. If you want to compare offers on both days, our Black Friday deals page and Cyber Monday deals page collect current coupons in one place.

What Is Cyber Week?

Cyber Week is the name retailers use for the run of online deals around Cyber Monday. It does not have one fixed definition:

• Adobe and many analysts use "Cyber Week" for the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday (November 26 to November 30, 2026). This period is also called the "Cyber 5".
• Many retailers use it for the days after Cyber Monday, often Monday through the following weekend, to extend their online sales.
• Some stores run "Cyber Monday" deals for two or three days. Walmart, for example, has announced that its 2026 Cyber Monday event runs from November 30 to December 2 on Walmart.com, starting at 12:01 a.m. ET, and Best Buy's 2026 schedule lists a Cyber Monday event on November 29 and 30.

The practical point is that a Cyber Monday deal does not always end at midnight on Monday. Check the end date on each offer, and do not assume a deal will still be there on Tuesday.

Cyber Monday 2026 Calendar

1. Thursday, November 26 - Thanksgiving: Many online Black Friday sales go live.
2. Friday, November 27 - Black Friday: The main in-store and online shopping day.
3. Saturday, November 28 - Small Business Saturday: A day to shop at local and independent businesses.
4. Sunday, November 29: Some stores start Cyber Monday deals early, often in the evening.
5. Monday, November 30 - Cyber Monday: The biggest online shopping day of the year.
6. Tuesday, December 1 - Giving Tuesday and Travel Tuesday: Charity giving, plus airline, hotel and cruise sales.
7. Monday, December 14 - Green Monday: One of the last big online sale days before holiday shipping cut-offs.

What Time Does Cyber Monday Start?

There is no single start time. Most online stores switch their deals on at 12:01 a.m. Eastern or 12:01 a.m. Pacific on Monday, and some launch on Sunday evening. Walmart's 2026 Cyber Monday event starts at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 30. Most other big retailers have not yet published their 2026 Cyber Monday start times. In 2025, Amazon ran its Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday sale as one event from November 20 to December 1, so its Cyber Monday prices were already live before the day itself. Amazon has not announced its 2026 dates yet.

What Are the Best Things to Buy on Cyber Monday?

Based on past years, these categories tend to see strong online discounts on Cyber Monday:

• Electronics and computers: laptops, tablets, headphones and smart home devices. Check Amazon and Best Buy for current offers.
• Clothing and shoes: fashion retailers often run sitewide percentage discounts. Stores like Gap have offered sitewide Cyber Monday sales in past years.
• Beauty: beauty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty commonly run online offers across the holiday weekend.
• Software and subscriptions: VPNs, cloud storage, streaming services and apps often run their biggest annual-plan discounts around Cyber Monday.
• Toys and gifts: large retailers such as Walmart and Target usually carry toy deals across Cyber Week.

These are patterns from previous years, not promises for 2026. Exact deals and prices change every year and many are only revealed on the day.

How to Shop Cyber Monday Safely and Smartly

• Make a list first. Cyber Monday emails are designed to create urgency. A list keeps you focused on things you actually need.
• Check price history. Some "was" prices are inflated. Compare the deal with the price over the past few months before you buy.
• Look for a promo code. Many stores add codes on top of sale prices. Check the store's page on CouponFlick before checkout, and read the terms, since many codes exclude certain brands or sale items.
• Shop on trusted sites. Type store addresses yourself instead of clicking links in unexpected texts or emails. Fake "Cyber Monday" sites and delivery-scam texts are common at this time of year.
• Use a credit card or secure payment method for better fraud protection, and be careful with buy now, pay later plans that make it easy to overspend.
• Read the return policy. Many retailers extend holiday returns, but some sale items are final sale.

Is Cyber Monday Still Worth Waiting For?

For many products, the honest answer is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday prices are now very similar. Many stores launch their deals early, keep them running through the weekend and then refresh them on Monday. If you see a good price on something you need during Black Friday week, waiting for Cyber Monday rarely brings a much bigger saving, and popular items can sell out. Cyber Monday is most worth waiting for if you are shopping online-only brands, subscriptions or categories that traditionally save their best offers for Monday.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cyber Monday in simple words?

It is the online shopping day on the Monday after Thanksgiving, when stores offer special online deals to end the Black Friday weekend.

When is Cyber Monday 2026?

Cyber Monday 2026 is on Monday, November 30, 2026, three days after Black Friday on November 27.

Who invented Cyber Monday?

The term was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation. Ellen Davis of the NRF is usually credited with the name.

Is Cyber Monday bigger than Black Friday?

Online, yes. Adobe Analytics recorded $14.25 billion in US online spending on Cyber Monday 2025, compared with $11.8 billion on Black Friday 2025. Black Friday still has much more in-store shopping.

How long do Cyber Monday deals last?

Some end at midnight on Monday, but many stores extend them for one to three days or into a full Cyber Week. Walmart's 2026 Cyber Monday event, for example, runs until December 2.

Is Cyber Monday only in the US?

No. It started in the US, but retailers in the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and elsewhere now run Cyber Monday sales on the same date.

Conclusion

Cyber Monday began in 2005 as a clever name for a busy online shopping day, and it has grown into the biggest online sales event of the year. In 2026 it falls on November 30, with many deals starting earlier and some running into December. Bookmark our Cyber Monday deals page to see the latest coupons and store offers as they go live.