Borderland small businesses relying much more on online sales this holiday season

EL PASO, Texas -- This past Thanksgiving weekend was a record breaking one for online sales. However, analysts estimated this year's Cyber Monday to have actually been the largest online sales day in history.

“We have revamped our online store because about 50 percent of our sales have come online as compared to previous years where maybe 10 percent was coming from online,” said Erika Williams, owner of On Next Sunday.

Williams is not the only local small business who has seen an increase in online sales during the pandemic.

For Chuco Relic owner Chelsie Evaldi, online sales before the pandemic were an added bonus, but now her store relies on those sales more than ever. So, she's taken extra steps to appeal to online customers for the holidays.

“We redid our website and made sure our online presence was stronger and that our Google analytics were all correct so that when people searched for us they were able to find us a lot easier,” said Evaldi.

Chain stores like Kendra Scott have also seen an increase in online sales during the pandemic and are offering special discounts for online customers.

"We have 120 styles which are priced at $30 each which is an incredible offer because some of these styles range anywhere from $60 to $120 dollars so it's a great offer and only offered for Cyber Monday," said Iliana Silva, marketing and philanthropic manager for Kendra Scott El Paso.

Industry analysts estimated that consumers spent anywhere from $10.8 billion to $12.7 billion dollars on Cyber Monday 2020, which was more than a 15 percent increase compared to last year's Cyber Monday.

For small business owners like Evaldi, encouraging locals to spend those dollars by shopping local first is her main goal.

“It is true that when you shop local we do do a little dance and we are appreciative that we got those sales from our community,” said Evaldi.