Black Friday is a week away, but the deals have been rolling out for weeks now. NBC6’s Alina Machado reports
The days of camping outside a store for hours on Thanksgiving Day, hoping to nab that hot, Black Friday deal, are a thing of the past.
“The concept of Black Friday as a single day does not exist anymore,” said Kristin McGrath, a shopping expert at BlackFriday.com.
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McGrath said the pandemic changed how retailers approach the official start of the holiday shopping season.
“It kind of put a stop to a lot of the in-store hype in general,” she said. “There’s still a lot of hype around Black Friday, but that hype has really been spread out.”
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Several major retailers like Target and Walmart have been rolling out waves of Black Friday deals weeks before Thanksgiving, slashing prices on everything from smart televisions and small appliances to AirPods and clothes.
“I’m looking at websites … like all the deals early,” said Claude Germain, an early shopper.
“Always important to get a head start because by the time the holidays start, that’s when everything’s become pandemonium,” said Christopher Filius, a shopper in Pembroke Pines.
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“We’re not shopping yet,” said Marj Real, who spoke to NBC6 outside Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines. “We’re just looking around for now.”
According to a national BlackFriday.com survey, shoppers expect to spend over $900 this holiday season. 53% of shoppers surveyed said they were searching for deals, discounts, and coupons in November. 43% said they were likely to decrease their holiday shopping budgets because of inflation.
“Consumers definitely have inflation on their brain,” McGrath said. “They’ve been getting hit by it for the better part of two years now and that really does factor into their holiday and Black Friday shopping strategies.”
“Inflation is crazy,” Germain said. “You just gotta budget better. You just gotta adapt.”
If you’re looking to save, set a holiday shopping budget and stick to it. Make a list before you shop to help you avoid impulse buys and a little bit of research ahead of time can go a long way.
“Really look at deals carefully,” McGrath said. “Do a price history search on products, if you can, to see if it actually is a good deal compared to what has been offered the rest of the year so that you’re not getting tricked into buying something thinking it’s the best deal ever.”
Some retailers will refund the difference if something you buy goes on sale later in the holiday shopping season, others will not.
You can learn more about the following price-matching policies by clicking below.