MILPITAS — Early on Cyber Monday, before many Bay Area residents picked up the phone to order products on the most important online shopping day of the 12 months, a neighborhood Amazon delivery station warehouse was already bustling with activity.
Inside, a whole bunch of employees sorted through Amazon packages arriving from across the state, arranging the packages in dozens of towering, straight rows. Silver delivery trucks were lined up within the warehouse with hazard lights on and doors wide open as employees stuffed packages into the back.
Once the products were secured, drivers left the warehouse like ants on a trail and headed to the packages' final destinations in Santa Clara County neighborhoods.
“It’s a very exciting time,” said Jae Garcia, senior station delivery manager at Amazon’s Milpitas warehouse. “With these mass gatherings and sending packages to customers buying holiday gifts for family, loved ones and friends, there is a lot more congestion and chaos.”
In some ways, Cyber Monday has develop into synonymous with the beginning of the vacation season. The days following Thanksgiving offer hundreds of thousands of Americans the chance to buy home goods, electronics and toys at a reduced price – all without ever leaving their laptop.
For Hercules resident Janaiah McClure, Cyber Monday means a likelihood to attain one of the best deals on clothing, tech and toys for her family, including three young children.
“When you have young children, with such a busy schedule you can't buy everything in the store,” McClure said. “It’s convenient and great to have access to deals like this during the holiday season.”
Consumers were expected to spend a record $13.2 billion on Monday, in response to Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping data. Online spending was expected to peak between 8 and 10 p.m. on Monday night, with an estimated $15.7 million spent per minute.
“Starting with Thanksgiving, discounts have exceeded expectations, and Cyber Monday has effectively become the 'last call' for shoppers looking for the best deals this season,” Vivek Pandya, senior analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a proof. “We are on track for a Cyber Week, the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, that will surpass $40 billion online and set a new record for U.S. e-commerce.”
The Cyber Monday sale is a week-long event for major retailers. Amazon launched its sale right after midnight on Saturday, while Walmart opened discounted deals for Walmart+ members on Sunday afternoon before opening them to all customers. Other retailers like Costco began offerings Monday morning.
At the Amazon delivery station in Milpitas, a whole bunch of hundreds of packages can flow through the warehouse on Cyber Monday, which is twice the quantity employees typically handle on a mean workday, Garcia said. The variety of packages rivals the corporate's Prime Days, which took place Oct. 8-9 this 12 months and was the most important October shopping event in Amazon history.
“It shows us that customers continue to search for deals and continue to follow them while shopping,” said Natalie Banke, Amazon public relations manager.
Popular Cyber Monday sellers should include electronics resembling televisions, Bluetooth headphones and speakers, digital cameras and smartwatches. But it's also a well-liked time for skincare products, discount clothing bikes, gift cards and jewellery.
The event also comes when small business owners like McClure see a rise in sales. McClure is co-founder of Jade&Kai, a Hercules-based company that sells baby clothes and essentials like pajamas, ponchos and sheets on Amazon. Jade&Kai's inventory is stored in an Amazon warehouse and employees help pack and ship orders to McClure customers across the country.
More than 60% of Amazon store sales come from independent sellers, including many small and medium-sized businesses.
“It takes the headache out of running the business,” McClure said. “With hundreds or thousands of orders, we would have to pack ourselves during the busy Christmas period. It’s amazing that Amazon can take care of this for us.”
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