The recent numbers released regarding Black Friday and Cyber Monday highlight the significance of the official start of the holiday shopping season. Millions of consumers hit retail stores and websites to purchase products and items they plan to give out to loved ones in the coming weeks. However, there were also a large amount of Americans who decided not to participate in the rush. Recent research has revealed what consumers were discussing on social media in terms of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and how they felt about the shopping days.

Mix of impatience and excitement

Chain Store Age reports that a study by SAP analyzed the mentions of Black Friday and Cyber Monday throughout various social media channels to determine what Americans were really thinking of the two events. The results were interesting, as they contained a mix of consumers who actually shopped on the days and those that decided to avoid them altogether.

According to the research, when it came to Black Friday, there were equal sentiments of impatience/tiredness and excitement pertaining to the official start of the holiday shopping season. Other emotions expressed included eagerness, fear and anger. For Cyber Monday, consumers' feelings were a bit more optimistic, but the ecommerce day only received 30 percent of total social media mentions compared to Black Friday's 70 percent. Americans were mostly excited about Cyber Monday, with some happiness, concern and boredom thrown into the mix.

As for where shoppers were planning to head to purchase products on these days, SAP's study found that for Black Friday, big-box stores were at the top of the list. This was followed by electronics retailers and department stores. Cyber Monday, of course, was a huge day for online merchants, but electronics and apparel stores also ranked high among shoppers.

How big were Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Many of these sentiments and behaviors toward Black Friday and Cyber Monday were exhibited throughout the weekend. Research from the National Retail Federation revealed that on Black Friday, more than 89 million consumers flooded retail stores and websites to take advantage of the discounts and deals being offered. Cyber Monday turned out to be the biggest shopping day in history, as approximately $1.46 billion was spent throughout the day, according to a study by comScore.