On Cyber Monday, a 'Threat' Has Emerged Against Amazon

Nearly 70 million Americans will be plopped in front of their computers or phones today, and not just because they're back to the grind after the long holiday weekend. It's Cyber Monday, an online extension of the Black Friday sales that have gone on for years, and Reuters notes this year's version is set to be the biggest moneymaker yet. The news outlet reports that even though the official holiday shopping season is nearly a week shorter this year due to a late Thanksgiving, retailers started pushing holiday promotions early, which apparently paid off: Thanksgiving and Black Friday brought in a record $11.6 billion in online sales. An Adobe Analytics estimate predicts another $9.4 billion in online sales on Monday alone.

CBS News notes the delivery challenges that companies face during the season, with millions of packages set to be shipped between now and Christmas. "We like to think of ourselves as sort of Santa's workshop here this time of year," an Amazon operations exec says. But Amazon also isn't the only game in town: CNBC notes big-box retailers like Target and Walmart have become a "threat" to the online juggernaut, with the former two experiencing larger jumps than Amazon in online customer spending during the first two weeks of November, compared to 2018. Several outlets—including Mashable, CNN, Tom's Guide, and TechRadar—have gathered together what they think are the hottest picks for Cyber Monday; there's also an "ultimate roundup" from BlackFriday.com. If you still haven't checked everything off your list, type "Cyber Monday deals" into Google and keep going. (More Cyber Monday stories.)