#image_2 Extreme shopping has evolved from a Black Friday sprint to a Cyber Week marathon as retailers extend deep discounts further into the holiday season. A December 2, 2014, report by IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark tracked sales in the five-day span between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, comparing this year's consumer transactional data against the same period last year.

Jay Henderson, Director of IBM Smarter Commerce saw the expanding length of the holiday shopping season as favorable to consumers and retailers, "making it easier for consumers to find the best deals on the go, whenever and wherever they chose to shop."