IBM calculates the Importance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for Retailers

November electronics and appliance sales almost to match December sales.

Oct 21 2010, 8:00am CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

IBM calculates the Importance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for Retailers

IBM announced today that they applied some of their sophisticated analytics software to forecast the growing importance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for retailers. I do not need software to tell you that though. November, aka the Black Friday month, has been growing in importance for shoppers over the last few years. December is still the month with the largest sales in the consumer electronics sector, but November is catching up fast. The best deals are available in November, but many shoppers are not in the mood in November to do their Christmas shopping.

That is why the biggest shopping day for online retailers is still in December and not the Black Friday or the Cyber Monday in November. In 2009 the biggest online shopping day according to Comscore was December 15th.

Back to IBM's predictions of how the Holiday shopping season 2010 will unfold for retailers. According to the forecast, sales of consumer electronics and appliances are predicted to total $10.164 billion this November, representing a 4% increase over November 2009. Consumer electronics is expected to total $8.688 billion with appliances coming in at $1.476 billion.

In December, sales of consumer electronics and appliances are predicted to total $13.800 billion, representing a 4% increase over December 2009. The December 2010 forecast breaks down as follows: $12.197 billion for consumer electronics and $1.603 billion for appliances.

This sales forecast relies on 19 years of historical data and sophisticated analytics software developed by IBM to analyze both long-term trends and seasonal peaks.

"The forecast indicates that retailers should be ready for a robust Black Friday and Cyber Monday," said Global Business Services partner and IBM retail analytics leader Michael Haydock, referring to the Friday and Monday following Thanksgiving. "Retailers that staff up and stock up for November and invest in advertising are likely to have a substantial advantage in the marketplace."

Based on our experience the deals in the consumer electronics sector are far better in November than they are in December. Early Christmas shopping is paying off and each year more consumers join in on the Black Friday deal hunting. The Black Friday 2010 shopping season will get started at the end of October, but we have already seen some cool deals like free TVs with TV purchases or free GPS with an iPod touch.

Black Friday 2010 Deals will be here sooner than you think. Get your research done now to score the best deals on TVs, Laptops, Phones, GPS, Blu-ray players and other gadgets as soon as they become available. For the hottest Black Friday deals and complete coverage of the biggest sales event of the year visit our Black Friday 2010 Hub.

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.