What Is Cyber Monday? History, How It Works and Why It Still Matters
Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving, when US retailers run their biggest online sales. The National Retail Federation’s online division, Shop.org, named it in 2005; in 2025 Adobe measured $14.25 billion in US online spending on the day.
- Named by
- Shop.org (NRF)
- 2025 US online spend
- $14.25 billion (Adobe)
- 2026 forecast
- $15.1 billion (Adobe)
- Online only?
- No — see below
Where the name came from
Shop.org, the online-retail division of the National Retail Federation, introduced “Cyber Monday” in a November 2005 press release. Ellen Davis, then on the NRF’s public-relations team, is credited with the name; Shop.org executive director Scott Silverman and research VP Ray Greenly worked with her. The exact release date is unverified because the release is not online.
The reasoning at the time: retail reports showed online sales spiking on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The explanation was that many homes still had slow dial-up, so shoppers who had browsed in stores over the weekend bought online from fast office connections. A 2005 Shop.org survey found more than 37% of consumers planned to shop online from work that season.
Cyber Monday spending, 2015 to 2025
Adobe tracks US online spending on the day. Its figures are not directly comparable to Salesforce’s.
| Year | US online spend (Adobe) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $3.07B | +16% |
| 2018 | $7.9B | +19.7% |
| 2019 | $9.4B | +18.9% |
| 2020 | $10.8B | +15% |
| 2021 | $10.7B | −1.4% |
| 2022 | $11.3B | +5.8% |
| 2023 | $12.4B | +9.6% |
| 2024 | $13.3B | +7.3% |
| 2025 | $14.25B | +7.1% |
| 2026 (forecast) | $15.1B | +6.2% |
Adobe’s 2016 and 2017 figures were not reported on the same basis, so they are left out. Sources: Adobe’s 2015, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 forecast releases; earlier years via Chain Store Age, CBS News and The Paypers citing Adobe.
How it works now
Mobile has taken over: smartphones and tablets were 26% of Cyber Monday online sales in 2015 and 57.5% in 2025, per Adobe. Retailers also spread deals across Cyber Week. Adobe counts the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday ($44.2 billion in 2025); NRF counted 75.9 million Cyber Monday online shoppers in 2025 and a record 202.9 million shoppers over the five-day weekend.
Is Cyber Monday online-only?
Not any more. Practice varies by store: Walmart’s 2025 sale was online-only, Target’s 2025 sale was mostly online with select in-store offers, Best Buy’s doorbusters run in stores, in the app and online, and Costco’s Cyber Monday deals are online-only.
What to read next
When is Cyber Monday? · Black Friday vs Cyber Monday · How to shop Cyber Monday
Frequently asked questions
Is Cyber Monday still a thing?
Yes. Adobe measured $14.25 billion in US online spending on Cyber Monday 2025, up 7.1% from 2024, and forecasts $15.1 billion for November 30, 2026.
Is Cyber Monday only online?
Not entirely. Walmart’s 2025 Cyber Monday sale was online-only, but Target said select 2025 offers were available in stores, and Best Buy’s doorbusters are available in stores, in the app and online. Costco’s Cyber Monday deals are online-only.
What does Cyber Monday mean?
It is the name for the Monday after Thanksgiving as an online shopping day. Ellen Davis, then on the NRF’s public-relations team, is credited with the name.
Keep reading
Sources
- https://www.fastcompany.com/3054041/how-cyber-monday-was-born
- https://www.emarketer.com/content/the-history-of-cyber-monday-q-a-with-scott-silverman-co-founder-of-the-biggest-day-in-ecommerce
- https://www.kvue.com/article/news/verify/cyber-monday-thanksgiving-holiday-shopping-origin-story-internet/536-5c97656f-00fc-42ff-b661-57786f0cba43
- https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/cyber-monday-20-year-history/
- https://news.adobe.com/news/2025/12/adobe-cyber-monday-hits-record
- https://news.adobe.com/news/2026/09/adobe-us-holiday-shopping-season-to-hit-record
- https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/thanksgiving-holiday-weekend-draws-a-record-203-million-shoppers
- https://www.axios.com/2025/11/28/cyber-monday-deals-2025-walmart-amazon-target-sales
- https://corporate.bestbuy.com/?p=31595