Millions of Americans will take part in this year's Black Friday special sales events and many retailers and organizations are offering customers an early opportunity for holiday shopping.
Along with many other stores, Walmart will begin their annual Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving day to help shoppers get an early start on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Walmart assistant store manager, Jeff Berg, says the rush of customers during large scale events helps add to the atmosphere of holiday shopping.
“The fun is finding the item that you want for greatest price possible this holiday season so you have it under the Christmas tree by Christmas,” Berg said.
More than 4,000 Walmart locations will begin Black Friday specials at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, however the store is also offering Cyber Monday specials just after Midnight for the first time ever.
Walmart Spokesman, Ravi Jariwala, says the company began researching ways to make holiday shopping a more convenient experience and found moving their Cyber Monday special would be ideal for millions of online shoppers.
“We're really letting our customers lead us. Customer shopping behavior is always evolving,” Jarwala said.
More than 23 million items will be available on Walmart's website after Thanksgiving, an increase from eight million items in 2015.
Walmart, however, isn't the only major retailer opening early and offering special deals. Target, Amazon, and even Costco will be offering deals throughout the week leading up to the weekend.
With more stores opening early and using ads to drive online traffic, Black Friday has become a battle ground to attract “one-stop shop” customers and offer items shoppers wouldn't expect to find at specific retail stores.
“There's a lot that maybe you haven't seen before or would expect from Walmart,” Jariwala said.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
