Cyber Monday mania in Moncton: 'It’s been crazy'

Theresa Crossman was on the go all day long Monday.

The contract delivery person for Amazon had a vehicle full of packages to drop off in the Greater Moncton Area because many retailers started posting their Cyber Monday deals last night.

“All the sales and stuff, it makes it extremely busy because Cyber Monday started on the weekend, not just Monday. It's been crazy,” said Crossman.

Data from the e-commerce company Shopify shows the average Canadian planned on spending $291 for Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

That's second only to the United States.

Craig Murphy did some online shopping at home before going to Cleve’s Source for Sports in Moncton to find more deals.

“When I woke up this morning, my wife said, ‘Look, you got to check online. The pants you wanted are on sale.’ I said great. This is the day. I pulled the trigger and away you go,” said Murphy.

Like Murphy, Jocelyn Goguen was also busy shopping online, but found time to make a trip to the Designer Shoe Warehouse.

“I guess it's the same whether you go in the store or online. I shop for my work stuff. I had work things that I could get on Cyber Monday,” said Goguen.

As popular as Cyber Monday has become, some think Black Friday is a bigger deal to shoppers.

Digital anthropologist Giles Crouch believes we're entering a phase of what he calls digital disillusionment.

“We've spent the last three or four years in front of our screens during lockdowns and shopping restrictions,” said Crouch. ““We've come to the point where we're like, OK, I'm a little digitally underwhelmed now and I want to get out and spend time with friends and family and actually experience the world that I haven't really been able to experience in the last three to four years.”

Black Friday sales were down across Canada this year with experts saying it's due to soaring inflation and the high cost of living.

The Cyber Monday deals were definitely out there, but not everyone can everyone afford to shop right now.

But Toronto-based retail expert Bruce Winder said there will be some really good activity online.

“I think retailers, they've had to really sharpen their prices to get consumers to buy,” said Winder.

Some believe Black Friday has lost its lustre, but a few retailers in Moncton say business was brisk over the weekend.

“November in general has been terrific,” said Sounds Fantastic co-owner George Paulin. “Friday we did quite well, but Saturday was just nuts. It didn't stop all day.”

It was the same at Cleve’s, where the Black Friday sale wrapped up on Monday.

“We had the two cashes running pretty much full steam all day,” said MacMillan. “Lineups at the cash pretty much all day.”

Crouch said people still enjoy the in-person shopping experience, no matter what deals they can find online.

“We do have less to spend this year than we did so that's another reason we go to stores is because we feel more like we trust the deal that we're getting in the real world versus the deal we get online,” said Crouch.

Crouch added that people are a bit disillusioned with the online shopping experience because they don't know how to tell between what's a good deal and what isn't.

“A lot of people feel manipulated these days,” said Crouch.

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