Best Cyber Monday Deals 2021: What to Expect

If you intend to shop Cyber Monday deals for major purchases and gifts, Cyber Monday 2021 is coming soon. Traditionally following Black Friday by three days, Cyber Monday sales can differ from merchant to merchant. Some retailers continue their Black Friday deals through the weekend and end at midnight on Monday. Other merchants reserve Cyber Monday deals for special product categories. You’ll find a variety of approaches to what is for many the last big sales event of the year.

When is Cyber Monday 2021?

Cyber Monday 2021 is November 29. Cyber Monday sales are not generally advertised or promoted as heavily as Black Friday deals because merchants don’t want shoppers to hold off from shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. As soon as Black Friday passes, however, you can expect to find loads of ads and promotions for Cyber Monday deals.

When do Cyber Monday deals start?

Cyber Monday 2021 may be on Monday, November 29, but it’s more accurate to say Cyber Monday deals begin when Black Friday ends. The key to the answer to the question is, for X retailer, when does their Black Friday promotion end. Some merchants begin Cyber Monday sales at 12:01 P.M. on the Saturday after Black Friday. Other retailers prefer to take advantage of the greater historic merchandising power of Black Friday and continue their Black Friday sales until 11:59 P.M on Sunday, immediately after which Cyber Monday deals kick off.

Best Cyber Monday deals we saw last year

During Cyber Monday 2020, as in previous years, many merchants features tech products heavily. Perhaps playing off the “Cyber” element in the sales event’s name, there were excellent Cyber Monday sales on TVs, laptops, and smartphones in particular plus smartwatches, headphones, smart home devices, and smart home appliances. Cyber Monday deals on tech products are always a big draw, especially since merchants emphasize their inventory depth of tech products for their Cyber Monday sales. .

We saw some amazing deals on 4K TVs during Cyber Monday 2020, especially from Samsung. One of the outstanding deals was a $530 sale on a 70-inch Samsung TV.

Business laptops, Chrome books, and the rapidly growing gaming laptop category all had great Cyber Monday discounts. Gamers require the hottest performing hardware to be competitive, so gaming laptops on sale for less than $1,000 at Best Buy were a particularly impressive Cyber Monday deals.

We also saw jaw-dropping Cyber Monday sales for smartphones last year, an not just from Apple and Samsung. Motorola and Google Pixel phones, for example, had deep discounts during Cyber Monday 2020.

What Cyber Monday deals we expect to see this year

Cyber Monday 2021 won’t be an exact repeat of last year’s event. The pandemic continues to disrupt supply chains and therefore production and shipping of many goods, but the tech world, in particular, continues to evolve. Smartphones and smartwatches have seen some of he greatest developmental shifts since Cyber Monday 2020, but TVs, tablets, and many work from home categories have also advanced.

With OLED and QLED TV screens still the rage, we’ll see strong Cyber Monday deals on large, high-end TVs, but we’re even more sure there will be loads and loads of Cyber Monday sales on large screen TVs with older display technologies. Does that mean you should hold out for only the best display tech? That depends on your budget and willingness to pay extra for what can be a minimal improvement for many viewers. We won’t be surprised to see discounts approaching 40% on the largest screen sizes of non-premium TV models from from many manufacturers. Amazon’s recently announced Fire TV Omni Series will undoubtedly put price pressure on other brands to slash prices as deeply as they can.

New smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Microsoft offer changes ranging from incremental storage and battery life to folding or dual displays. This year, however, 5G, is more influential for smartphone sales than a few more camera pixels and tweaked biometric security sensors. 5G offerings from various carriers hasn’t yet reached a universal standard and 5G coverage areas can be inconsistent. However, the growing availability of the various flavors of 5G strengthens the attraction. That plus noticeable battery life decreases with you use a non-5G phones in a 5G coverage area will push many buyers to upgrades. Carriers are more aggressive than ever and more generous in their offers to attract new customers and to keep existing ones. Between trade-in allowances, switching bonuses, and new line consumer spiffs, Cyber Monday deals on smartphones could be amazing from major carriers Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T. Your next smartphone may be discounted 50% or more depending on the model and carrier promotional discounts and credits.

We also expect competition between retailers and brands for Cyber Monday deals on gaming hardware and furniture. Office chairs continue to be in demand as well as standing desks and other  work from home furniture and accessories

Who has the best Cyber Monday deals?

So, we don’t have crystal balls, nor do we have inside information about who will have the Best Cyber Monday deals this year. However, we can confidently predict which retailers will have the strongest Cyber Monday sales specific product categories. How can we predict without seeing private memos? History. Merchants large and small live by inventory turnover and profit by controlling costs on tight cost-sale margins in an increasingly competitive retail marketplace. Those factors leave little room for error. Therefore, if a merchant did well last year in specific product categories, we can expect they’ll focus on largely the same product mix and discounting approach for Cyber Monday 2021 that worked in 2020.

So let’s talk about TVs. Based on the past few years, Walmart will have the largest selection of the best deals on TVs. Best Buy will be the runner-up. If you’re going to shop for a Cyber Monday deal on a new TV, at the minimum you should price check between Walmart and Best Buy. Target doesn’t carry anywhere near the variety of TV models as Walmart and Best Buy, but Target occasionally has special sales on specific TV models leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The one new element in TV deal shopping during Cyber Monday this year is Amazon’s new Fire TV Omni Series. With TVs from 43-inches to 75-inches, and total control of the brand, Amazon may knock the bottom out of the 4K TV market with prices that ruin the Thanksgiving turkey leftover meals of the executives of other TV brands and competing retailers. However, nothing that happens during Cyber Monday 2021 will have any effect on this Cyber Monday deals — any potential aftershock will delay till Cyber Monday 2022.

Amazon will rack up the largest dollar volume worldwide during Cyber Monday sales, but Walmart may carry the day in the U.S. alone. Amazon and Walmart both feature Cyber Monday sales on small home appliances such as Instant Pots, Dyson vacuums, air fryers, coffee makers, air purifiers. Amazon will have a larger selection but Walmart may have better deals on select popular products. Neither Amazon nor Walmart carry large appliances, however, so if you’re looking for a Cyber Monday deal on a new refrigerator or oven, for example, check out Best Buy, Wayfair, Home Depot, Lowes, and ABT Electronics.

If you’re searching for the best Cyber Monday deals on computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smart watches, set up quick cross checks with between Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. And don’t ignore the manufacturer websites for great deals as well, sometimes looking directly at the brand website can save you a lot of time digging through merchant sites.

If you’re on the hunt for furniture or home accessories such as rugs and curtains, don’t skip Wayfair. The furniture sales disrupter also has deals on appliances, mattresses, and grills. Online mattress sales by Tempur-Pedic, Nectar, Casper, Serta, Saatva, and more have become a very big and extremely competitive business — comparison shopping among the brands can be tricky, but we expect the major manufacturer will have astounding Cyber Monday deals .

Are things cheaper on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday deals can be different from Black Friday deals, but the differences are highly specific to merchants and product categories as well as brands and specific models. If you see a killer price for a product on your must-buy list (see below), our advice is to make the move and not wait for a possible lower price later. Not only may you never see a lower price, the product you wanted may sell out because inventories aren’t infinite, even at Amazon.

If you’re wondering whether you should hold off for Cyber Monday 2021 when you see an excellent price during Black Friday sales, again we advise that you not wait. If the product is on your nice-to-have(but-not-necessary) list, you won’t lose much if the item sells our or has a price increase – either of which can and does happen at times.

In general, and the difference is minimal, Black Friday sale prices overall can be a bit lower than Cyber Monday sale prices, but usually on a minority of the products offered for sale. Most merchants have the same or almost identical prices for most products during both sales events, but you’ll also find retailers who offer discounts for one of the two sales but not the other. Part of the thinking for some merchants is that if they show all their deals on Black Friday, no one will show up on Cyber Monday.

You also need to be aware of pricing tricks. You’ll best protect yourself by price checking for items on your must-have list ahead of time so you’re informed. With that info in hand, you’ll be less likely to be fooled when a retailer offers a product at a seemingly much lower than the listed retail price but is actually selling a two year old model and compares the price to the current model.

If you’re rushed by a lighting sale (a limited time to buy) or a limited inventory sale (there are only a few left), you could easily get fooled by tricky pricing.

It’s important to get impartial product and product pricing advice ahead of time (as we offer in articles such as this one). We price-check items on sale and only highlight products we recommend.

Cyber Monday shopping tips

The best way to prepare for Cyber Monday 2021, as with any other major sales event, is to plan ahead before the sale. The second winning tactic is to take your time during the sale itself. Cyber Monday deals can be tempting, but if you see and impulsively buy a product that wasn’t in your initial plan without taking the time to cross check both the product and the price, you could be an unhappy shopper on the Tuesday after Cyber Monday.

If money isn’t a concern at all, well, first off, you’re not likely to read this article. For the rest of us, however, Cyber Monday sales can be an excellent chance to score good deals on gifts for others and to make purchases for ourselves. At the risk of being repetitive, the best preparation for Cyber Monday sales is to prepare ahead of time.

List can be your friend. If make a list of everything you’ll like to buy and then divide the items into must-haves, nice-to-haves, and just-for-fun-if-the-price-is-right. The next step is to research the current full list price and sale price for each item. Taking it one step further, note the price you would need to see to make the purchase immediately.

Next you can decide on your budget. You can either determine the full amount you’ll spend on Cyber Monday deals, or maximum amounts you will spend for each item on your lists. If you like to take a little risk when you shop, maybe allocate 10% to 20% for chance purchases that have nothing to do with your list.

Cyber Monday FAQ

In the responses below we’ll answer common questions about Cyber Monday 2021. Some of the questions are repetitive from earlier sections of this article. Other questions are of interest for conversation only, but don’t have any bearing on the deals you’ll find and the savings you can score. The last five questions address products you are likely to see at major online merchants during Cyber Monday sales.

Why is it called Cyber Monday?

Black Friday was such a sales extravaganza, the administration at the National Retailers Federation (NRF) was concerned that people would stop shopping after Black Friday. Black Friday was originally limited to sales in brick-and-mortar stores. In 2005 the NRF announced Cyber Monday, a sale to be held annual on the Monday after Thanksgiving, three days after Black Friday. The purpose of the new major sales event was to encourage shoppers to buy online.

Cyber Monday’s reputation of tech deals stems from the preponderance of sales of computers and other other tech products and accessories in the early years of Cyber Monday. Today Cyber Monday sales include all manner of goods. Ironically, most retail stores also have Cyber Monday deals, so Cyber Monday is no longer only for online shopping.

What time does Cyber Monday start?

If you take this type of thing literally, Cyber Monday sales start at 12:01 A.M. However, as we’ve seen year after year, retailers in stores and online have their way with calendars, clocks, and schedules. The best answer to the question about the Cyber Monday starting time is it starts when a merchant announces the start, whether online or in physical stores. Some merchants continue Black Friday sales through Sunday and start Cyber Monday deals at 12:01 A.M. Probably an equal number of retailers begin their Cyber Monday sales at 12:01 A.M. on the Saturday after Black Friday.

What time does Cyber Monday end?

As with the starting time, Cyber Monday ends when retailers say it’s over. Many retailers end Cyber Monday at midnight Monday. Other merchants declare Cyber Week, which typically runs through the following weekend.

How many days until Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday 2021 is on November 29, the 333rd day of this year. You can figure 0ut the number of days remaining until Cyber Monday but discovering the current day’s number of the year and subtracting that number for 333.

What stores do Cyber Monday?

Most retail stores that sell directly to consumers have Cyber Monday sales. The power of Cyber Monday deals and the hype that has grown around the shopping period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday sales attracts any merchant that wants extra sales without having to invent a sales event on their own.

The best answer to the question (although one that’s a bit snarky), is that all consumer product stores have Cyber Monday except for the very few that don’t want more business.

Does Amazon have Cyber Monday deals?

Amazon has been one of the Cyber Monday sales leaders for several years and that will be the case again for Cyber Monday 2021. Amazon is famous for giving great deals on its house-brand products such as Amazon Echo smart home devices, Kindle e-readers, Ring video doorbells, Blink smart home security lights, and Eero Wi-Fi systems systems. We fully expect Amazon will have tempting deals on its new Amazon Fire TV Omni Series TV sets.

Amazon also has Cyber Monday sales on Amazon Prime Membership, Kindle Unlimited, Audible audio books, Amazon Music, and more.

Does Best Buy have Cyber Monday deals?

Best Buy is another extremely strong Cyber Monday pariticipant. Look to Best Buy for excellent Cyber Monday deals for TVs, computers and computing accessories, tablets, smartphones, smart watches, audio equipment, small home appliances such as blenders and vacuums, and large appliances including refrigerators, washers and dryers, stoves, microwave, dishwashers, and more.

Does Apple have Cyber Monday deals?

Apple has Cyber Monday deals but Apple doesn’t usually discount products during their promotions. Instead of price cuts, Apple is more likely to give gift cards with Cyber Monday sales products. The gift cards are only good for buying Apple products.

Note that Amazon is your best source of Apple deals if you’d rather not purchase directly from Apple. Amazon also often has deals on previous generation or previous year models as well as a wide selection of renewed or refurbished Apple products.

Does Walmart have Cyber Monday deals?

As we mentioned earlier, Walmart has the biggest and best deals overall if you’re shopping for a new TV. Walmart gears up for the season and stocks up for in-store and online sales of a wide range of TV manufacturers, brands, models, and screen sizes. Walmart also often includes deals on previous year TV models, appropriately marked with their year of manufacture.

Walmart also features Cyber Monday sales of small home appliances such as Instant Pots, Ninja and Ninja Foodi devices, coffee makers, blenders, microwave ovens, toasters, and more. Walmart has Cyber Monday sales on a wide range of products including toys, jewelry, cameras, tools, and all manner of household goods.

Does Target have Cyber Monday deals?

Target’s Cyber Monday 2021 will follow the pattern established in previous years with attractive Cyber Monday deals on a select inventory of TVs, computers, audio products, and other other electronics. Target also puts toys, home goods, and small kitchen appliances. on sale during Cyber Monday. Target Red Card debit card holders have access to special pricing, occasional early notice of sales, and free or reduced sipping costs.

Editors’ Recommendations