Cyber Monday 2016 is here – and these are the best deals and top retailers taking part

Black Friday has become one of the biggest global shopping days of the year – with millions of eager bargain-hunters taking to the high street to pick up American-style deals on just about everything – from TVs to fashion and furniture.

“What works very much in Cyber Monday’s favour is that it is the last significant retail ‘day’ before Christmas, in which people have the opportunity to pick up a heavily discounted bargain,” said Dom Joseph, chief executive of Captify.

Buy what is Cyber Monday all about? Unlike Black Friday, which evolved from the US, it’s originally a UK phenomenon – a time for you to shop ’till you drop, straight from your sofa.

So what’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? What is it and where can the best deals be found?

Best Cyber Monday deals

For most retailers, Cyber Monday is your last chance to get hold of any remaining Black Friday deals.

But others release special deals for the day.

This year, there are extra deals from Currys, Argos, Amazon, eBay and Debenhams among others.

Currys PC World, is leading the pack – with this JVC LT-32C360 32″ LED TV down to £149.99, an incredible £350 off this SAMSUNG Galaxy TabPro S & Keyboard (128GB) and £150 off this ASUS Transformer 2 in 1 laptop/tablet.

Amazon is close behind, with 65% off the Braun Silk-Epil 5 Power 5780 Epilator; 70% off the Oral-B Smart Series 6500 Electric Rechargeable Toothbrush and 73% off Philips 7000 Electric Shaver for Sensitive Skin.

Meanwhile Argos has announced new deals too – knocking down the price of a re-furbished iPhone 6 to just £299; taking £255 off the price of this 49″ 4K TV from Phillips and cutting the cost of this PS4 Slim GTA V Console Bundle to £229.99.

What’s Cyber Monday about?

Following a boom in 2012, Black Friday has become one of the biggest days in the retail calender year – with Amazon reporting sales every 62 seconds alone.

The event, which takes place the day after Thanksgiving in the US, famously kicks off Christmas shopping season – and last year, cashed in over £1 billion for the first time in history.

In 2013, Black Friday headlines were dominated by violent scenes as rivals scrapped over the time and stock-limited bargains – with those famous Tesco videos of Brits going viral around the world.

Thankfully, there’s no such risk of serious injury on Cyber Monday – except, perhaps, the possibility of developing repetitive strain injury.

When is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday now takes place the Monday after the American Thanksgiving holiday and following Black Friday.

It means we get a four day weekend of pre-Christmas sales.

Cyber Monday 2016 is on 28 November 2016 this year – most major retailers started their sales online at midnight.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is something that – for once – started with customers, not shops.

Traditionally, the first Monday after the final payday before Christmas was the day people headed online and started their Christmas shopping in earnest.

However, when shops noticed this trend, they started getting more involved, offering exclusive deals and sales to try and win your business on a day people were shopping anyway.

There was early confusion over when, exactly, it fell. With people being paid at different points in the month, some felt the first Monday of December was right, while others thought the Monday closest to the start of December.

Now, however things have changed a little.

It’s become the online exclamation point at the end of the Black Friday sales – with shops holding back a few extra juicy deals and final reductions to things they haven’t sold over the weekend so far.

Is it bigger than Black Friday?

Yes and no. Cyber Monday is online only, so there’s a lot more choice available. On the other hand, Black Friday is both online and in stores and deals tend to last around 5 days, with the best deals on the actual day. Cyber Monday is strictly a 24-hour affair.

What can I expect?

Similar deals to Black Friday can be expected, mostly electrical gadgets, like Dyson vacuums, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and homeware – including furniture.

Last year there were big discounts on PlayStation 4, Apple products and cameras. Premium stores like House of Fraser and John Lewis also tend to go big on fashion, beauty and home electricals.

Which websites are taking part?

Plenty of online only retailers have headed up big deals for Cyber Monday, including Amazon – and we’re expecting a similar turn-out in 2016.

A lot of the big high-street retailers, including Currys, Argos , Tesco , and John Lewis will most likely be putting on special online-exclusive deals over the Black Friday – Cyber Monday weekend.

Where are the best deals to be found?

Most of the big retailers are keeping their big Cyber Monday deals under wraps for now, but keep an eye out here for big announcements over the coming weeks.