The holiday shopping season is right around the corner. While we’re turning our attention to all things Amazon for its October Prime Day sale, the highly anticipated fall event will be an introduction to Black Friday deals and beyond.
As far as actual Black Friday goes, the team here at CNN Underscored is already planning to help save you money. Before November arrives, we’re putting our decades of combined deals experience to work to fill you in on everything you need to know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When is Black Friday?
This year Black Friday is on Nov. 29, which continues its tradition of falling on the Friday right after Thanksgiving.
When do Black Friday deals start?
In recent years, Black Friday has morphed from a single day of savings into a week-long event. It used to be that deals would go live at midnight on Friday, but now there’s a build-up of price cuts and sales. For 2024, discounts will start going live on Nov. 22 during what has become known as Cyber Week.
Some retailers will be starting the savings even earlier. In years past, retailers have opted to offer early flash sales at the very beginning of November to give shoppers a taste of what is to come at the end of the month. There are also events like October Prime Day and Target Circle Week that take an even earlier approach to helping you check off holiday gift lists.
Which retailers participate in Black Friday?
All the biggest retailers will be getting in on the action for Black Friday. That includes big-name storefronts like Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, as well as individual brands and retailers like Apple, Lululemon, Sephora and more.
What kinds of deals can we expect to see?
Nearly every retailer you can imagine will join in on the Black Friday season, and each category should see sizable discounts. The shopping holiday is a great chance to knock presents off your list, whether hunting for home goods, the latest tech, appliances, clothing or just stocking up on household essentials.
Expect price cuts on the latest Apple gear including AirPods, Apple Watches, iPads and MacBooks. Some of our favorite appliances and gear for around the house will be getting in on the savings as well. That means Black Friday will be the perfect time to save on a new Ninja appliance, Dyson vacuum and other essentials.
Who has the best Black Friday deals?
The best Black Friday deals aren’t going to be found at just one retailer. I’ve been covering the whole holiday shopping season for nearly a decade now, and each year the competition between stores has only heated up. Amazon may undercut Best Buy on a certain product, while Walmart steps in and price matches an all-time low discount from Target. That means you’ll have to shop around to get the best price.
Or you could leave it to us at CNN Underscored. We research to find all the season’s best deals for you, so you can cut right to the chase and save. Each team member, including Underscored’s deals editor, Jacqueline Saguin, and associate deals editor, Elena Matarazzo, is dialed into a specific beat to help surface the best of the best deals. That ramps up even more throughout the holidays as the rest of the Underscored team taps in to help track down discounts.
Is Cyber Monday better than Black Friday?
No. Lately, the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday has become less noticeable. It used to be that Black Friday would encourage shoppers to head to brick-and-mortar locations to score doorbuster deals, while Cyber Monday would ramp up the digital offers. But that hasn’t been the case lately, and that means many of the same deals from Black Friday will last through Cyber Monday.
Tons of offers will be popping up at different points throughout Cyber Week. So, if you’re looking to shop the best discounts online, you’ll have to tune in on Black Friday, not just Cyber Monday.
Why trust CNN Underscored?
Quite simply, our goal is to save you money. As senior editor, I’ve been doing it for nearly a decade, and that kind of experience extends to the rest of our team of deals editors. Being an advocate for buyers to make sure we’re only recommending the best prices on the best products is what I’m all about.