Small businesses cash in on Cyber Monday

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Cyber Monday deals are happening right now.

You’ve probably seen ads from big box stores.

It’s the biggest online sale of the year, and local businesses are cashing in.

“It is a big boost; we get thousands of orders,” said Haley Ruiz, owner of Bella Rose Boutique. “It was pretty crazy. We had over a thousand people on the website around 10 p.m. last night all at once so it’s pretty, it’s pretty awesome as a small business.”

While Ruiz has a couple brick and mortar stores, the rush of sales on this cyber holiday is paramount to her business.

“It really helps us move some of the inventory through the winter season and get new stuff in, but we mainly do it for our customers. Just to kinda do it one day out of the year and just have that option for them to be able to purchase stuff at such a high discount,” she said.

“Cyber Monday is super important for small businesses like us,” said Steve Johnson, owner of Scuba Steve Clothing Company.

Johnson, better known as Scuba Steve, doesn’t have a permanent store. Instead, he relies on festivals for in-person sales. When festival season dips in the winter, online sales become his life line.

“It’s a huge boost. We have Peter Anderson and Christmas City, then we have Black Friday and try to pull something out of that, and then Cyber Monday is the last. Yeah, it’s a big addition to our business,” he said.

This year, it’s paying off.

“Record high, of course, it’s been amazing. Thank God,” he said.

While a digital purchase might not mean much to a customer, for local business owners, the impact can’t be understated.

“It really means a lot, ya know, I have a husband and three kids and just keeping it in the community is so important ya know it means the world,” Ruiz said.

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