Cyber Monday sales skyrocket causing some mall kiosks to suffer

Many people decided to skip shopping lines to find deals online on Cyber Monday. In the process, Adobe Insights data showed that it broke a Cyber Monday record by 10 percent. Shoppers spent almost $3.5 billion on Monday. But does that mean brick and mortar stores are losing out? One store owner in Palm Springs said in most cases store sales were up.

“There was so many people on the street and there’s been plenty of years past when I think everybody was at malls doing that sort of shopping,” said President of Palm Springs Merchant Circle Association Joy Meredith

A trend Meredith said works for small businesses. But it’s not the same case for some mall kiosks.

“it’s just frustrating cause every year we did really well. Our bosses started yelling at us because it’s not the same as last year. so it’s kind of hard,” said Sutra Kiosk employee Daniel Perez.

Another kiosk business owner chose to remain anonymous, but said they were hoping the holiday weekend would boost their plummeting sales, but still couldn’t sell enough to cover the day’s rent. Ultimately, they are thinking about moving their business online. A digital outlet with little overhead costs and 24/7 access for customers. But there’s one thing online stores can’t offer and local shop owners still hope to capitalize on that.

“I don’t think it’s the end of brick and mortar businesses because people still want that experience,” Meredith said. Some mall kiosk workers say they hope that in person customer experience makes a comeback despite the ease of online shopping.