Green Monday is a shopping holiday—much like Cyber Monday or Black Friday—and it falls on the second Monday of December. This holiday was created in 2007 and since its inception, has become the third-largest shopping holiday of the annual Christmas season, though it pales in comparison to the size of Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

Although sales in 2007 for this holiday went well, in 2008 and 2009, online sales dipped slightly. However, that was a temporary dip, and sales have mostly trended upward with only a few exceptions. While it isn’t currently clear about the origin of the name, it has been said that it’s called Green Monday because it’s the same color as the American dollar.

The History of Green Monday

Green Monday was a term originally coined by eBay in 2007 as a way to describe the website’s best sales day in December, which usually falls on the second Monday of December or at least ten days before Christmas.

After other retailers heard the name of the holiday, they decided to jump on the bandwagon and also name the second Monday in December Green Monday while offering their own seasonal sales.

However, some retailers call this holiday Cyber Monday 2 instead of Green Monday. Regardless of what this holiday is called, the purpose is the same: to encourage people to spend money online. Since its inception, Green Monday has been the third-largest shopping holiday of the Christmas season, behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

In 2011, over 1.1 billion dollars were spent on Green Monday, and in 2015, retail sales jumped to just over 1.4 billion dollars—although it should be noted those sales were a 12.8% decrease from the 2014 sales of $1.615 billion. In 2017, sales were over $2 billion on this day, and by 2019, sales were over $3.454 billion.

Getting The Best Green Monday Deals

A lot of people who are reading about this holiday aren’t concerned with how to celebrate it but are instead likely concerned with getting some advice that will help them get the best deals on this holiday. That’s why we decided to add this section—a section that’s unlike what we usually add to our holiday entries.

So, we decided to give our readers some simple advice that should prove helpful for Cyber Monday. The first way to get a good deal on this day is to be on the lookout for Green Monday websites created by the company you’re interested in buying from.

Many companies launch these websites well in advance of Green Monday. It’s also a good idea to check out Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales from these companies. That’s because many companies will recycle the deals they previously offered on these days and serve them up again for Green Monday.

Interesting Facts About Online Sales

Now that you know more about Green Monday and how to secure a deal on this holiday, let’s turn our attention back to online sales. Online sales fascinated us so much that we decided to do a little bit of research about this innovative yet commonplace way of ordering goods. Below are some of the facts we learned about online sales during our research.

Shipping Costs Lead People To Abandon Their Online Carts

A common problem that many retailers face is that people will begin to add things to their online carts and then just abandon the cart without completing the purchase. This is usually due to shipping costs that are too high for the consumer. However, if people need the item in question quickly, then they usually don’t have too many problems paying higher shipping costs.

Between 2018 and 2019, Clothing Was The Number One Online Seller

Approximately 60% of U.S. shoppers purchased clothing online between 2018 and 2019. That made clothing the number one item to be purchased. This was followed by books, movies, games, music, and shoes. Stationery and hobby supplies only accounted for 17% of online U.S. sales.

E-commerce Continues To Grow Every Year

In 2019, only about 14% of all global retail sales were e-commerce purchases. However, that’s quickly changing, and more people are beginning to purchase their retail goods online. It’s estimated that by 2023, e-commerce sales will be approximately 22% of all global retail sales and will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

Green Monday Customs & Traditions

What do you do on Green Monday? Well, you shop, of course. On this day, there are plenty of retailers who are offering discounted prices on their merchandise to boost holiday sales. Some of the major retailers that always seem to participate in Green Monday include Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and eBay.