Cyber Monday is the New Black Friday

With the holiday season fast approaching, many consumers are looking towards Black Friday at November 29th and Cyber Monday on October 1st to snag the best deals.

While Black Friday has generally been considered the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States, the sales have been surpassed by Cyber Monday in the recent years.

This year, a survey conducted by PriceGrabber.com shows that 58 percent of the shoppers plan to shop more on Cyber Monday than Black Friday.

Adobe Digital Index predicts that as a result of the shift, the Cyber Monday sales, following double digit sales increase in the past three years, will rise yet again to reach beyond $2 billion – setting an all-time record in online sales.

Many experts pin the growth of Cyber Monday on the growing usage of mobile phones as a shopping tool.

In addition to providing an easy access to most major retailers even during working hours on Monday, the shoppers use their mobile phone to search for better deals while waiting in lines during Black Friday.

Social media sites such as Facebook FB and Twitter TWTR, linked with mobile devices, is expected to be a huge driving force behind customers’ purchase decisions:

“Marketers look at the last click when assigning credit for sales,” said Tamara Gaffney, a senior marketing manager from Adobe Digital Index. “Only 2% of purchases come directly through social, but 36% of consumers say they will turn to social when making purchase decision.”

The shortened shopping season this year is also expected add to the use of online retailers, as less consumers will have the time to physically shop at brick-and-mortar stores.

With online shopping on the rise, shippers like FexEx FDX and UPS UPS expects to raise pick-up volume by 10 and 11 percent respectively during the Thanksgiving weekend.