Cyber Monday 2026

When is Cyber Monday, and is it really worth waiting for?

These are the questions that millions of people planning to buy online ask themselves every year towards the end of November. Cyber Monday has become a permanent fixture on the sales calendar, although it still remains in the shadow of its more famous predecessor. In this article, we’ll look at when Cyber Monday 2026 falls, where it came from and how it differs from Black Friday.

When is Cyber Monday 2026?

Cyber Monday 2026 falls on 30 November. It is the first Monday after Black Friday, which this year falls on 27 November. The date is therefore not fixed. It shifts on the calendar each year, but always follows the same pattern.

By way of comparison: in 2025, Cyber Monday fell on 1 December, and in 2024, on 2 December. Black Friday always takes place a few days earlier, as it’s the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, brings the whole sales weekend to a close.

If you’re planning to do some serious shopping, make a note of this date. Many deals last just a few hours, and the most popular products disappear from virtual shelves in a flash.

What’s the story behind Cyber Monday? A brief history of Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is a day of online sales created in 2005 in the United States as the e-commerce equivalent of Black Friday. The name was coined by the American organisation, the National Retail Federation (nrf.com), when it noticed an interesting trend. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, online sales were rising significantly.

Why this increase? Americans were returning to work after the festive weekend, where they had faster internet connections than at home. They were finishing off the shopping they hadn’t managed to do on Black Friday right there at their office computers. This is how ‘Cyber Monday’ was born, and over time it gained popularity all over the world.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, which is why the whole sales marathon always begins towards the end of the month. Today, retailers across Europe and beyond run dedicated Cyber Monday campaigns of their own.

A peak period for e-commerce

Cyber Monday is a peak period not only for shoppers, but above all for e-commerce businesses. If you run an e-commerce business and want to make the most of Black Week’s potential, find out how ExpertSender helps automate campaigns during the busiest season of the year.

Book a free demo and get your communications ready before the sales marathon kicks off.

Cyber Monday, Black Friday and Black Week - how do they differ?

The main difference is simple: Black Friday covers both in-store and online shopping, while Cyber Monday focuses almost exclusively on promotions in online shops. Black Week, in turn, extends both of these events to a whole week, and sometimes even longer.

In practice, the boundaries have become very blurred. Many shops now offer promotions in a continuous run: from the Monday before Black Friday right through to Cyber Monday, which brings the so-called Cyber Week to a close. For shoppers, this means more time to hunt for bargains, but also more marketing hype to filter through.

Historically, Black Friday was the domain of high-street shops: queues before dawn, crowds at the entrances and a scramble for discounted televisions. Cyber Monday emerged as a more convenient alternative. The same bargains, but without leaving home. Today, when most of us shop at e-commerce sites anyway, the two events compete more for attention than for sales channels.

What’s worth buying on Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is, above all, an excellent opportunity to snap up electronics. It is this category that has dominated the lists of best-selling products for years.

Smartphones, tablets and smartwatches regularly feature on the discount lists, while gamers keep an eye out for deals on consoles, graphics cards and accessories.

If you’re looking for specifics, in previous years the biggest action was in these categories:

• Cyber Monday - smartphones: discounts often extend to older flagship models, which see the biggest price drops following the launch of new models;
• Cyber Monday - laptops: a good time to snap up both work computers and gaming laptops;
• Cyber Monday - TVs: shops are keen to discount last year’s models;
• Cyber Monday - monitors: bargains for gamers and remote workers.

It’s worth remembering that Cyber Monday isn’t just about physical hardware. Since the event originated online, it’s digital products that are best suited to it. Platforms such as Steam organise major game sales during this period, while software developers discount apps, digital subscriptions (streaming, cloud services, productivity tools) and lifetime licences - i.e. one-off payments for access without a subscription. If you’ve been putting off buying software or renewing a subscription for a long time, this is often the best time of the whole year.

You’ll also find household appliances, clothing, cosmetics and toys at attractive prices.

LEGO sets are, in fact, one of the hits of the pre-Christmas shopping season, as Cyber Monday falls perfectly at the start of the gift-buying rush. It’s worth buying then whatever you’re planning to give your loved ones in December anyway.

Is it worth waiting for Cyber Monday?

Yes, but on one condition: waiting only makes sense if you know how much your dream product used to cost. Without this knowledge, it’s hard to tell a genuine bargain from a promotion created purely for marketing purposes.

This is because stores can manipulate prices ahead of the sales season. They raise them a few weeks before Black Week so that on Black Friday or Cyber Monday they can showcase an impressive discount calculated against an inflated price. So if you're 'on the hunt' for something, start tracking the price 2-3 months in advance. Price-tracking tools such as Google Shopping, Idealo, or CamelCamelCamel (for Amazon) show price history across stores, making it easy to spot an artificially inflated 'discount' at a glance.

So is it worth waiting? Genuine bargains do come up, and discounts at some stores can reach 50% or more

Many e-commerce sites also throw in extra vouchers or free delivery. Informed shopping allows you to make real savings. However, waiting blindly, without comparing prices, often ends up with you buying a product at the full price - just wrapped up in a promotional label.

See also: How does the Price Drop scenario work and how can you make the most of it? >>>

FAQ - frequently asked questions about Cyber Monday

When are Black Week and Cyber Monday in 2026?

Black Week 2026 will take place in the last week of November, with Black Friday falling on 27 November and Cyber Monday on 30 November.

Cyber Monday always falls on the first Monday after Black Friday and marks the end of the entire sales weekend.

What is Cyber Monday all about?

Cyber Monday is an e-commerce sales event, created in 2005 in the United States. It was established as an online response to Black Friday and is now celebrated worldwide.

Read also: What is e-commerce, or electronic commerce? >>>>

How does Black Friday differ from Cyber Monday?

Black Friday features promotions in both high-street and e-commerce stores, while Cyber Monday focuses on online shopping. In practice, many shops combine both events into a single campaign lasting the whole of Black Week and Cyber Week.

Which is better - Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

It depends on what you’re looking for. On Black Friday, the promotions tend to be more widespread and also include high-street shops, while Cyber Monday is often the last chance to snap up the best online bargains, especially on electronics and digital products.

Are prices cheaper on Cyber Monday?

Some stores do offer attractive discounts and sell products at exceptionally low prices on that day, but this isn't always the case. When looking for the best deals, always check the promotional price against the product's price history in a price-tracking tool before clicking 'buy now' on the store's website.