Wal-Mart will kick off Cyber Monday on Friday

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Cyber Monday is starting earlier and earlier.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it’s kicking off its “Cyber Monday” deals at 12:01 a.m. Friday for the first time as it aims to grab customers ahead of its competitors.

Last year, the world’s largest retailer pulled up the “Cyber Monday” deals to the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving for the first time.

Cyber Monday, which falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving, is typically the busiest day of the year for online shopping. The phrase was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s online arm, Shop.org, to encourage online buying when people returned to offices where they had high-speed Internet connections.

The push to start Cyber Monday deals earlier follows what’s been happening with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which used to officially kick off the holiday shopping season in stores. Over the past few years, retailers such as Wal-Mart, Macy’s and Target have started the deals earlier into Thanksgiving. And they’re offering many of the same deals online as they do in stores on Thanksgiving.