Did it hurt? When you realized we’re about to enter our second pandemic holiday shopping season?
Ready or not, Black Friday is coming
It won’t be much longer until retailers start cramming your inbox full of ad scans and deal previews. It may seem a bit pre-emptive, like those neighbors who insist on putting up their Christmas decorations before the leaves fall, but trust us when we say that this year’s Black Friday sales will be even weirder than last year’s.
Three words: Supply chain chaos
Under circumstances absolutely no one had on their bingo card, pickles and paper bags have gotten as elusive as Playstation 5s. Blame the Delta variant, which continues to inflame pandemic-related material shortages and delivery delays across industries of all kinds. Unsurprisingly, this ordeal has left manufacturers and retailers scrambling; Walmart, Home Depot, and Ikea have actually gone so far as to charter private cargo ships to make sure their shelves are stocked for the holidays.
As such, finding the best deals this Black Friday will likely be a question of availability more so than price.
“I half-jokingly tell people ‘Order your Christmas presents now because otherwise on Christmas day, there may just be a picture of something that’s not coming until February or March,'” UPS International President Scott Price told Agence France-Presse in mid-September. And you thought finding toilet paper last spring was bad.
Since planning ahead will be your best defense against backorders and “out of stock” notices, we’re rolling out our Black Friday coverage way earlier than usual this year. (The early bird gets the Nintendo Switch, so to speak.) We’ll be updating this post with the best deals as sales start to pop up — in the meantime, here are all the must-know details you’ll need ahead of time.
Credit: Vicky Leta / Mashable
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is a shopping holiday that takes place every year on the day right after Thanksgiving. It used to be synonymous with viral fistfights and stampedes and lines that stretched around city blocks before 3 a.m., but COVID-19 has turned it into a mostly online event.
When is Black Friday?
While Black Friday proper falls on Nov. 26 this year, retailers will start trickling out their holiday doorbusters much sooner — we’re thinking as early as October.
Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday — what’s the difference?
Scoring a great deal on Black Friday once meant camping out at a retailer in the middle of the night right as the store opened. But once online shopping became mainstream, online retailers wanted a piece of the Black Friday pie. Cyber Monday was born thanks to people of the early 2000s wanting the best possible internet connection to do their shopping. At the time, office computers had better broadband than home setups, causing people to wait until work on Monday to do all their online shopping. In 2005, the NRF debuted the term Cyber Monday and we’ve been online shopping after Thanksgiving ever since.
Big-name retailers will also have good online sales on Black Friday, many of which are live weeks in advance. Best Buy and Walmart will offer good prices on Black Friday, while Amazon is better on Cyber Monday if you’re a Prime member. (Though Amazon does run Black Friday savings for the whole week leading up to the holiday.)
What stores will be open for in-person shopping this Black Friday?
Most major retailers’ Black Friday hours are still TBD, but we already know that Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Kohl’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond will close their doors on Thanksgiving Day. (That’s a big change from pre-pandemic years, when many stayed open on the federal holiday so that eager shoppers could get a jump on their best deals.) If you feel the urgent need to do some post-pie shopping that day, you’ll have to crack open your laptop instead.
Credit: Mashable Illustration
Here are the best deals at each retailer
Amazon: Check back later for deals!
Bed Bath & Beyond: Check back later for deals!
Best Buy: Check back later for deals!
Kohl’s: Check back later for deals!
Macy’s: Check back later for deals!
Target: Check back later for deals!
Walmart: Check back later for deals!
Best kitchen deals
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Best robot vacuums deals
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Best tech deals
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