Customers navigate the ailes of a Wal-Mart location in Burbank, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 16. Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, marks the start of the U.S. holiday shopping season.Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
With Black Friday having stretched into a November full of deals, stores will be stepping it up as holiday shopping begins in earnest.
It's been a tough year for many retailers. Several well-known chains have filed for bankruptcy protection and thousands of stores have closed. Amazon.com Inc. is going into the holiday season with its largest-ever store presence and plans to offer deals online every day from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. Stores are trying to step up their game online and in person to attract customers who are moving back and forth from store to phone shopping.
But with unemployment low and the economy in solid shape, stores are hoping customers are in a mood to shop. About 69 per cent of Americans, or 164 million people, intend to shop at some point during the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation trade group. It expects Black Friday to remain the busiest day with about 115 million people planning to shop then.
"People expect promotions all week," said Rod Sides, vice-chairman of Deloitte LLP. As holiday shopping gets under way in earnest, he said, "people will come with a purpose and a plan. The Black Friday deals will go fast."
Over all, the NRF expects sales in November and December to at least match the 3.6-per-cent growth of a year ago, to a range of $678.75-billion (U.S.) to $682-billion. It estimates that online spending and other non-store sales will rise 11 per cent to 15 per cent.
Here's a look at what some big stores have planned for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Most retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. start making the majority of door-buster deals available online at 12:01 a.m. on Thanksgiving. The hours refer to local times.
Wal-Mart
Thanksgiving: Sales start at 6 p.m.
Black Friday: Most supercenters are open 24/7.
Deals: LG 49-inch Class 4K Smart TV for $328 and an Element 39-inch Class Smart TV for $125. Samsung 65-inch Class Curved 4K Smart TV for $998.
Target
Thanksgiving: Open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Black Friday: Opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m., 11 p.m. or midnight, depending on the store.
Deals: A 55-inch Westinghouse UHD TV for $249.99. Shoppers who spend $50 in stores or on Target.com on Friday will get a coupon for 20 per cent off for purchases made between Nov. 28 and Dec. 10.
Macy's
Thanksgiving: Most stores open at 5 p.m. and close at 2 a.m.
Black Friday: Open at 6 a.m.
Deals: $29.99 diamond earrings with any purchase of $50 or more. Seventy-five per cent off select sport coats and overcoats. Fifty per cent off select holiday tops and sweaters.
J.C. Penney
Thanksgiving and Black Friday: Opening at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving and staying open until 10 p.m. the following day.
Deals: Diamond earrings for $25, boots for $19.99.
Kohl's
Thanksgiving and Black Friday: Opening at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving through midnight on Black Friday.
Deals: 50 per cent off of select toys from Hot Wheels to Play-Doh, $69.99 diamond bracelet, FitBit Blaze Smart Fitness watch for $149.99.
Best Buy
Thanksgiving: 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Black Friday: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Deals: 60-inch Sony 4K TV for $599.99 and a Samsung 11.6-inch laptop for $119.
Toys "R" Us
Thanksgiving and Black Friday: Opening at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving and staying open for 30 hours.
Deals: 40 per cent off Lego construction sets, $59.99 Barbie Pink three-storey townhouse.
Survey suggests more Canadians plan to do holiday shopping online this year
A new survey suggests more Canadians are planning to do some or all of their holiday shopping online this year.
A survey commissioned by FedEx Canada and released today found that 65 per cent of Canadians polled planned to shop online this year, while 55 per cent said they did so last year.
Six per cent of those polled said they planned to shop online this holiday season for the first time. Participants in Ontario, Atlantic Canada and British Columbia were the most likely to shop online for the holidays, with 68 per cent of Ontario respondents and 67 per cent of the others saying they planned to avoid bricks-and-mortar stores.
Saskatchewan, Quebec and Alberta had the lowest percentage of respondents who said they intend to shop online, ranging from 58 per cent to 62 per cent.
The survey was conducted online from Oct. 5-7 and involved roughly 1,490 adult Canadians. The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.