The start to the holiday shopping season is heating up as Walmart has announced its upcoming Holiday Deals event. Today’s news is an expected follow-up to Amazon sharing the dates of its now-annual October Prime Day sale, otherwise known as Prime Big Deal Days.
When is the Walmart Holiday Deals event?
All of Walmart’s deals will kick off on Oct. 8 at midnight EST. The sale will run through the end of the week on Oct. 13.
What kinds of deals can we expect?
Walmart will be dishing out discounts on just about everything you’d normally shop at the retailer. We’ll be seeing markdowns on all things tech and toys, as well as home goods, apparel and tons of notable gift ideas.
The Walmart Holiday Deals event will also be leaning into the seasonality of October, with markdowns on Halloween decorations and costumes, as well as some early offers on gear for decking the halls ahead of the winter holiday festivities.
Do I need a Walmart+ account to save?
No. Unlike previous sales, the Walmart Holiday Deals event won’t be exclusive to those who have signed up for the retailer’s membership. Instead, those who are enrolled will get priority access to shop all of the savings: Walmart+ members will get a 12-hour head start to load up their digital carts.
In the past, that early access has meant the difference between scoring the best doorbuster discounts or walking away empty-handed.
What is Walmart+?
Walmart+ is a membership program that lets devoted Walmart shoppers take full advantage of all the retailer has to offer, both in-store and online. If you already handle weekly grocery trips by heading to Walmart, then it might be a smart investment to sign up for a subscription. Here’s everything you get.
• Enjoy free deliveries with no minimum purchase.
• Save 10 cents on fuel from locations like Walmart, Exxon, Mobil and Murphy.
• Receive special discounts on everyday items and new releases any day of the week and special savings days like Walmart+ Week and Black Friday.
• Easily use your phone to scan prices while shopping in store for streamlined checkout.
• Watch ad-free content with Pluto TV.
• Video stream with Paramount+ offering more than 40,000 shows, hit films and live sports.
• Return items without leaving your home — they’ll come to you.
• Get exclusive access to new and unique items for members only.
How to get Walmart+
Right off the bat, do yourself a favor and score the free 30-day trial. Then, you can choose between the $12.95 monthly plan or the $98 yearly subscription. Either one affords you the same perks.
Early Walmart Holiday Deals to shop now
There's no beating a MacBook deal when it's this low, especially when it's for one of Apple's latest machines. An onboard M1 chip powers a 13-inch Liquid Retina display and ultra-portable design.
Dyson makes some of our favorite vacuums around, and this V7 model takes some of the higher-end technology the company is known for and pairs it with a $120 price drop.
This is about as affordable as a 65-inch television can get. It still packs smart features for watching your favorite streaming content, alongside a 4K panel that won't break the bank.
This convertible coffee table will become the center point of your family room with a fold-out desktop and ample storage underneath. Bring it home for $80 off — one of the best offers we've seen.
Even at full price, this streaming media player is already about as affordable as it gets for bringing smart features to your TV. Now it's 20% off.
Minimizec your home AC usage in favor of the more localized cooling power that this oscillating tower fan has to offer while it's nearly half off.
The Bissell Little Green may have "little" in its name, but this is one of the mightiest vacuums around for lifting away dirt and stains from a variety of surfaces.
Bottom line
Amazon may be the one setting the pace when it comes to October sales, but Walmart is following closely behind with a sale of its own. It’ll be one of the best sales to shop in October — especially if you’re looking for an alternative to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event.
Expect this Walmart Holiday Deals event to serve as the retailer’s kickoff to the rest of the holiday shopping season. The deals should be right around the lowest prices of the season. We’ve shopped these pre-Black Friday sales for years now and the main takeaway is that they are great ways to beat the rush later on in the holidays while still saving a ton.
Why trust CNN Underscored?
Our team of deals editors has been covering the deals vertical for decades and has plenty of experience saving our readers money. Being an advocate for buyers is what our senior deals editor Rikka Altland is all about, and that ensures we’re only recommending the best prices on the best products.
How do we find Walmart October sale deals?
Once Walmart’s October sale goes live, we will take our usual day-to-day workflow and apply it to combing through offers from the retailer. Over the week-long event, we’ll search through pricing data to highlight the most notable discounts and call out milestones like new all-time low prices, the season’s best offers and rare markdowns. Each member of our team, including Underscored’s associate deals editor Elena Matarazzo, is dialed into a specific beat to help surface the best of the best deals.
On top of leveraging years of deals expertise, one of CNN Underscored’s other strengths is that we have plenty of experience across verticals. Our testing editors are constantly evaluating the latest gear in their respective fields, allowing us to recommend tech, beauty products and home goods that we’ve used ourselves. All of that hands-on testing lets us provide even more insight into the deals we’re recommending.