Cyber Monday in Russia Date in the current year: January 29, 2024

The history of Cyber Monday is closely tied to Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. For decades, Black Friday has been the day when millions of Americans rush to stores to make the most of deals and discounts. In 2004, Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation coined the term “Cyber Monday” to encourage people to shop online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The first Cyber Monday campaign was held during the 2005 holiday season.

Russian retailers organized their first Cyber Monday on January 28, 2013. It was initiated by Maksim Faldin, a co-owner of the online marketplace Wikimart, and supported by the Online Retailers Association (AKIT). Alongside Wikimart, five more large Russian online retailers participated in the inaugural Cyber Monday.

Unlike its American prototype, Russian Cyber Monday wasn’t tied to Thanksgiving or the start of the holiday sales season. On the contrary, its main goal was to encourage customers to buy things after the end of the holiday season, when sales begin to decline.

The first Cyber Monday turned out to be very successful for online retailers: their sales were even bigger than during the peak holiday season. So the next year, the Online Retailers Association organized the second Cyber Monday, this time with over fifty participating retailers. In 2016, Cyber Monday was officially supported by Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being) for the first time.

The current organizers of Cyber Monday in Russia are OOO Black Friday and the National Distant Sales Association (E-commerce Russia Association). The event kicks off on the last Monday of January, starting at midnight sharp, and lasts for three days. The list of participating stores can be found on the official website of the event, kiberponedelnik.com. They include both large e-commerce retailers and small brick-and-mortar businesses.

The organizers recommend that customers sign up beforehand to receive a newsletter about promotions and discounts planned by various retailers for Cyber Monday. This allows to prepare for Cyber Monday in advance and avoid unnecessary spending; if you don’t plan your purchases, you will probably buy a lot of things you don’t actually need, and then regret it as soon as Cyber Monday ends and your shopping euphoria wears off.