Your Cyber Monday Fun Isn’t Over Yet

Early indicators on the typically greed and violence-fueled Black Friday shopping seem to show a decline in participation this year, hopefully caused by the general population developing a better sense of humanity than to engage in a street brawl over a television. Reports of store violence were down, as was news of people camping in front of stores as much as two days early, just to be first in line on Black Friday. But the pleasant surprise of the holiday shopping season has been the public’s response to this year’s Cyber Monday, in which so many consumers did their money-saving holiday shopping from home that some major retailers’ websites actually crashed.

But the fun doesn’t have to end yet. A number of major-name sellers are continued their Cyber Monday deals throughout the week, with some of the largest discounts to be found on hot-ticket electronics like video game consoles and tablets.

Amazon is still running its Cyber Monday promotion and its Lightning Deals, with items like the much talked about digital picture frame that lets you email the photo directly from your phone to Grandma’s frame without having to walk her through the download over the phone. This item typically retails for $149 in the 10″ model, but is still $119 for Cyber Monday (Week); other Amazon offerings include 50% off some models of 4K TVs. Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and GameStop are all still advertising their Cyber Monday specials this week.

Unfortunately, gaming and software deals were less spectacular this year, with some of the highest discounts only reaching into the 20% to 30% range. Gaming gear fared a little better, with deals on keyboards, headsets, and other interactive tech going at around a 50% discount. The real software winners were the antivirus companies, whose discounts of more than 60% helped ensure consumers would grab a disc at the register to go along with their new technology purchases; this will carry over into subscriptions and multi-machine licenses.