Green Monday 2017: What Is It And When Does It Start?

Thanksgiving weekend is famous for its deal-friendly shopping days that offer huge sales on pretty much everything. Those days include Black Friday, which slashes prices in brick-and-mortar stores, and Cyber Monday, its week-long online discount counterpart. But there’s a lesser-known event that shoppers can also take advantage of known as Green Monday.

On the calendar, Green Monday is the second Monday in December and usually comes about two weeks before Christmas. It is often referred to as Cyber Monday 2 because it is the second largest day for online shopping. Because of its significance, Green Monday is endorsed by huge retailers like Macy’s, Walmart, Amazon and Target, aimed at enticing shoppers to make purchases if they missed out on deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Green Monday is just 10 years old and began when online retail giant eBay coined the term in 2007. The shopping event was dubbed Green Monday because of how much money it generated from shoppers both online and in-store. Green Monday grossed over $1.6 billion in 2016, according to The Balance.

All types of Green Monday sales can be found on the web. Carson Yarbrough, a retail expert at Offers.com, in an email, told International Business Times that deals can be located on every retailer's Green Monday or Cyber Monday page. Customers should be strategic and watch social media, which is often used by retailers to announce deals. Shoppers can also search promo codes and coupons to save additional money on discounted products.

"Start tracking deals early, scanning your favorite stores Green Monday ads and the products you want, so you can be ready to purchase as soon as the sale starts," Yarbrough said. "Pre-load your shopping cart the day before the sale begins. This will save you valuable shopping time by having the items already ready to buy in your shopping cart. This trick won't work on every site, but when it does, it'll get you to checkout a lot faster, allowing more time to take advantage of the deals."

Yarbrough added that Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Target and Macy's offered the best deals for Green Monday last year and advised shoppers to "keep an eye on these retailers and sign up for deal and store email alerts to stay updated on the sales."