Holiday sales start early at Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart this year. Traditionally, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving kicks-off the holiday shopping season. This year, retailers are putting out holiday deals earlier than usual.
Target Deal Days ran from Oct. 6-8 and is currently Target Black Friday deals (opens in new tab), Walmart's Rollback and More sale starts Oct. 10-13, followed by Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale which runs Oct.11-12.
So why are holiday deals starting earier this year? Thanks to a recent survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, published on Sept. 30, we know why.
According to the poll, 44% of holiday shoppers plan to shop earlier this year. The reason being that inflation could have a direct impact on prices later on. Meanwhile, 31% of people are shopping now because they don't believe the deals will be better than they are at the moment. And in some instances, their predictions are correct.
Select retailers are doubling down on their early holiday deals with a holiday price guarantee. Target for example will refund you the difference if an item you purchased from now through Dec. 24 falls to a lower price.
We’ve been tracking holiday deals for years and it’s not uncommon to see Black Friday discounts in October. Back in 2020, Amazon Prime Day was pushed back from its normally July calendar date to October. This was more like a Black Friday preview since it was just a month away from Black Friday. Since then, retailers would quietly sprinkle holiday deals in mid-October.
This year, we saw select laptops hit all-time low prices in mid-September like the MacBook Pro 14 for $1,599 ($400 off). Even the newly-released AirPods Pro 2 saw their first discount just days after being announced.
So if the stress of inflation or potential stock shortages has dampered your holiday spirit, you can sigh in relief. Retailers are responding to consumers with aggressive deals and frequent restocks.
