Holiday Shopping Showdown: Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday. Now up: Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday has seemed to become as important as Black Friday in recent years, with more and more stores offering deals online for the Monday after Thanksgiving Day.

According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, overall sales on Cyber Monday were up 17.5% from last year.

Contributing to that increase in sales was Michigan State University creative advertising junior Patricia Szczepanski.

"On Cyber Monday, I shopped online at Alex & Ani," Szczepanski said. "I also bought some tickets from Ticketmaster."

MSU engineering senior Ben Caneba said he also shopped on Cyber Monday this year, as opposed to last year when he shopped in stores on Black Friday.

"I waited in line at Target for an iPad for four hours last year," Caneba said. "I wasn't even able to get the iPad."

Caneba said it was great being able to shop online and not have to wait in line at the store after his bad experience last year.

Holiday Shopping Showdown: Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday. First up: Black Friday

Within recent years, it appears that "Black Friday" - the Friday following Thanksgiving Day - has become very much a part of American culture and the kick-off of the holiday shopping season.
According to the National Retail Foundation, 92 million people shopped on Black Friday this year, including Michigan State University finance senior Marc Chiodo.
"I normally go Black Friday shopping every year," Chiodo said. "This year my friend and I went to Micro Center, which is a computer store."
Similar to Chiodo, MSU professional writing junior Sarah Waldrop shopped on Black Friday.
"My friends and I were actually out until 4 A.M. in the morning shopping the Black Friday deals," Waldrop said.
Waldrop has also worked on Black Friday in recent years.
"I was a Victoria's Secret sales rep," Waldrop said. "It was very hectic compared to other work days, which is pretty obvious."