This is actual footage of me emerging from the Internet rabbit hole I fell down last night while looking up the origins of the term “Cyber Monday.”
It was easy enough to find out that Ellen Davis — a young executive at the National Retail Federation trade association — coined the term “Cyber Monday” in 2005 to describe the Monday after Thanksgiving when, presumably, everyone would return to the office and do their online shopping instead of any work.
While reading up on Davis, I hit upon a 2007 Los Angeles Times article headlined “Cyber Monday? Not So Much: The myth of the ‘busiest online shopping day.'” The Times reported that Cyber Monday was only the 12th busiest day of the 2006 holiday season overall. Citing comScore, which specializes in tracking online sales, the Times reported that Cyber Monday wasn’t even the most lucrative online-only shopping day. That honor went to Wednesday, December 13, which generated $667 million in sales, compared to Cyber Monday’s $607.6 million in e-commerce. But that was 10 years ago, when the Cyber Monday concept was new, so I needed to know if the Cyber Monday myth had turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. I checked in with comScore, which reported that Cyber Monday 2016 “once again ranked as the heaviest [online] spending day of the year” with $2.67 billion in “desktop buying” for the third year in a row. “Desktop buying” only counts purchases made by people using computers rather than mobile phones. Another research firm, Adobe Digital Insights, came up with a different number, partly by including more than $1 billion in sales coming from mobile phones: It announced record Cyber Monday total of $3.45 billion.
Of course, all of that refers solely to online and mobile shopping, so I then felt compelled to find out how that stacked up next to in-store shopping or combined store and online shopping. Cyber Monday was now in the lead when it came to online business but would it be higher than 12th place overall? And that’s when I really got like …
… because at first I only found predictions about those sales figures than final reports. Then I found reports, but they were about the entire holiday season or by week rather than focused on the single biggest day. As my online search grew more obsessive, I thought, “I could solve this by making a few calls tomorrow morning.” Then I thought, “Why am I contemplating making a few calls about last year’s brick-and-mortar retail sales when all I’m supposed to be doing in this post is reminding people about my great holiday-shopping deal!”
Having come to my senses, I’m going to stop this mad researching — for now — and remind you that my own Black Friday-Cyber Monday-Giving Tuesday deal gives you a whopping zero percent off all the jewelry on my website.
However, for every in-stock, price-listed item purchased for $800 or more through tomorrow at midnight Eastern time, half of the retail price will be donated in your name to one of three organizations: the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, or International Relief Teams’ work in Puerto Rico. The donation will be made in your name and include your contact information so you can receive confirmation from the organization you choose.
To take advantage of this great offer, type the name of the nonprofit you prefer into the “notes” section during checkout. Add the word “anonymous” if you don’t want your contact information shared with the organization of your choice. The donation will still be made, but you won’t receive the confirmation.
Exclusions include designs that are out of stock; those that are made to order or must be resized; those that are “price upon request”; and designs — like my Mia scent locket — that normally include a charitable component.
Mia scent locket. Click to purchase.
To help you make a decision about a Cyber Monday purchase, you can see video close-ups of a number of my favorite jewelry designs in this week’s YouTube video. This video is extra-special because it was voiced by my right-hand woman Eryn and stars her left hand, which is modeling various rings for you. Check it out!
My Right Hand’s Left Hand is soon to be a major motion picture starring Daniel Day-Lewis. No, but seriously, if you’re thinking of making a significant jewelry purchase this holiday season, now is the time to get yourself a one-of-a-kind or limited-edition piece that will do a lot of good for a lot of people right now and stay in your family for generations. You can’t say that for an iPhone or television!