According to a job placement firm out of Chicago, Challenger Gray & Christmas (interesting name given the time of year), employers could lose a total of $488 million in productivity today. This estimate is based on 68.6 million employees spending 12 minutes at work buying holiday gifts online.
Thankfully, this consulting firm is not completely anti-consumerism, stating that although some productivity will be lost, employees are not expected to be productive every minute of their work day. Additionally, according to John Challenger, cracking down today is a bad idea. “Doing so could negatively affect morale and loyalty, which ultimately will have a greater impact on the bottom line than a few minutes of cyber shopping.”
All of us can breathe a collective sigh of relief as shoppers continue to contribute to a 21% increase in online sales as compared to last year.
Here are some stats for the typical online shopper (according to Shop.org):
- Men more likely to shop at work than women
- Adults 18-24 more likely to shop at work than any other age group (73%)
Given the fact that the internet will make up 30% of holiday shopping purchases, there is no reason for agencies or clients to fear Cyber Monday. In fact, embracing the day by running promotions, specifically reaching out to consumers during that day (and black Friday) will prove to be more and more profitable each year.
Excuse me while I go squeeze in my 12 minutes of consumerism today.