Posted by: Adam McCann

Black Friday shopping is one of America’s most treasured holiday traditions. But there’s always a bit of hassle involved. Shoppers have to get up early, stand in endless lines at stores and try to find deals through hordes of other shoppers — all in the name of savings.

That tradition is changing, however. Black Friday sales are starting earlier, weeks ahead of the actual shopping holiday at some stores. And many retailers are offering even steeper price cuts or other discount promotions, both in store and online, just to stay ahead of their competitors. That’s good news for shoppers, especially those who prefer to shop from home. So which stores offer the best discounts and for which items?

To answer that question and help consumers maximize their Black Friday savings, WalletHub surveyed nearly 8,000 deals from 29 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2019 Black Friday ad scans. Below, we’ve listed the stores offering the largest advertised discounts in various product categories such as “Jewelry” and “Appliances.” Read on for the full list, our methodology and shopping wisdom from a panel of experts.

1. Best Stores for Black Friday
2. Average Store Discounts by Product Category
3. Ask the Experts
4. Methodology

Best Places to Shop on Black Friday

Retailer	2019 Avg. % Discount by Retailer	2018 Avg. % Discount by Retailer	2017 Avg. % Discount by Retailer	2016 Avg. % Discount by Retailer	2015 Avg. % Discount by Retailer
Stage	69.8%	62.1%	60.8%	62.8%	63.9%
Belk	66.9%	68.9%	62.8%	N/A	59.5%
Bealls Florida	62.6%	N/A	52.8%	N/A	N/A
JCPenney	61.0%	65.1%	66.3%	62.8%	68.0%
Kohl's	57.1%	60.8%	66.3%	58.1%	66.7%
New York & Company	56.3%	54.5%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dick's Sporting Goods	52.3%	49.9%	35.1%	N/A	N/A
Kmart	51.8%	37.9%	35.8%	28.6%	50.1%
Sears	49.2%	42.9%	50.1%	43.9%	41.7%
Fred Meyer	47.1%	45.3%	43.9%	49.7%	45.3%
Macy's	46.1%	48.7%	45.6%	63.4%	56.0%
BJ's	39.3%	31.0%	32.1%	32.0%	30.6%
Lenovo	38.6%	40.1%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Meijer	38.5%	39.8%	32.4%	33.8%	39.1%
HP	37.4%	27.5%	34.0%	28.5%	N/A
Nordstrom	36.9%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Office Depot and OfficeMax	36.6%	42.6%	34.5%	43.0%	42.8%
Staples	34.7%	32.0%	32.3%	33.1%	34.4%
Walmart	34.3%	29.9%	34.2%	32.6%	30.1%
Target	34.3%	34.8%	36.2%	28.6%	37.3%
Academy Sports + Outdoors	31.8%	28.0%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Best Buy	29.5%	28.7%	30.0%	33.2%	33.5%
Dell Home	28.6%	27.4%	29.3%	35.7%	35.3%
Big Lots	27.9%	22.9%	24.1%	23.5%	27.1%
Amazon	25.4%	29.3%	36.8%	24.7%	25.8%
Harbor Freight	22.8%	23.5%	22.5%	62.6%	N/A
Costco	21.3%	25.1%	21.9%	25.4%	19.5%
True Value	20.8%	16.3%	32.8%	31.9%	N/A
Ace Hardware	11.8%	21.9%	21.5%	27.7%	34.2%
Overall Average	40.4%	37.0%	37.1%	39.0%	40.2%

 

Embed on your website<a href="https://ift.tt/1H7hcN5"> <img src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/posts/68892/best-worst-retailers-for-black-friday-2019-v2.png" width="" height="" alt="" /> </a> <div style="width:px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="https://ift.tt/2OHNId9>

   

Notes:
• The pie chart above displays the product categories in which discounts are more heavily concentrated, represented in percentage terms. The percentages do not represent average discounts.
• The bar graph above displays the average discount percentage for each product category.

   

Average Store Discounts by Product Category

Retailer	Apparel & Accessories	Computers & Phones	Consumer Electronics	Consumer Packaged Goods	Toys	Appliances
Academy Sports + Outdoors	28.21%	N/A	N/A	N/A	33.42%	31.88%
Ace Hardware	N/A	N/A	N/A	8.93%	N/A	12.98%
Amazon	25.07%	24.48%	25.20%	29.21%	28.63%	27.46%
Bealls Florida	58.28%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Belk	56.24%	35.36%	41.86%	41.73%	42.24%	53.93%
Best Buy	N/A	27.67%	27.32%	N/A	32.69%	30.04%
Big Lots	N/A	N/A	N/A	32.76%	35.19%	N/A
BJ's	N/A	28.47%	38.87%	N/A	31.16%	31.14%
Costco	21.89%	21.50%	25.08%	N/A	N/A	26.75%
Dell Home	N/A	27.95%	32.68%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dick's Sporting Goods	41.40%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fred Meyer	50.82%	24.12%	52.28%	4.01%	32.71%	55.56%
Harbor Freight	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HP	N/A	37.47%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
JCPenney	58.87%	53.10%	47.39%	57.95%	46.39%	55.55%
Kmart	51.59%	N/A	N/A	N/A	44.10%	30.84%
Kohl's	55.23%	28.56%	41.63%	N/A	43.40%	41.43%
Lenovo	N/A	38.53%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Macy's	42.70%	30.89%	N/A	49.00%	N/A	32.89%
Meijer	64.54%	32.92%	36.26%	N/A	41.29%	42.35%
New York & Company	56.09%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nordstrom	42.11%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Office Depot and OfficeMax	N/A	34.68%	37.02%	43.67%	N/A	N/A
Sears	57.83%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	47.59%
Stage*	56.36%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	74.88%
Staples	N/A	34.20%	36.67%	45.64%	N/A	N/A
Target	33.97%	26.40%	28.24%	N/A	38.40%	39.56%
True Value	N/A	N/A	N/A	17.53%	N/A	13.51%
Walmart	25.17%	32.66%	28.92%	N/A	24.89%	45.98%
Overall Average	45.91%	31.70%	35.67%	33.04%	36.50%	38.57%

 

Retailer	Furniture	Jewelry	Books, Movies & Music	Video Games (Software Only)	All Other Product Categories
Academy Sports + Outdoors	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	32.31%
Ace Hardware	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	8.31%
Amazon	19.84%	19.06%	30.95%	N/A	25.17%
Bealls Florida	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	69.34%
Belk	N/A	71.73%	N/A	N/A	59.39%
Best Buy	N/A	N/A	57.04%	46.27%	43.42%
Big Lots	26.75%	N/A	N/A	N/A	35.34%
BJ's	43.79%	N/A	N/A	N/A	38.77%
Costco	21.68%	16.61%	N/A	N/A	26.13%
Dell Home	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dick's Sporting Goods	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	53.07%
Fred Meyer	53.36%	N/A	N/A	N/A	55.28%
Harbor Freight	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22.95%
HP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
JCPenney	69.52%	61.16%	N/A	N/A	63.78%
Kmart	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	56.27%
Kohl's	50.00%	70.19%	32.68%	N/A	63.46%
Lenovo	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Macy's	41.13%	48.68%	N/A	N/A	48.27%
Meijer	N/A	N/A	N/A	33.53%	42.02%
New York & Company	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nordstrom	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Office Depot and OfficeMax	38.11%	N/A	N/A	N/A	43.42%
Sears	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	55.06%
Stage*	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	75.21%
Staples	33.11%	N/A	N/A	N/A	56.37%
Target	N/A	N/A	15.13%	48.17%	43.04%
True Value	35.67%	N/A	N/A	N/A	31.34%
Walmart	N/A	N/A	73.18%	51.08%	26.58%
Overall Average	39.36%	47.91%	41.80%	44.76%	44.76%

*Includes the retailer’s five brands: Stage, Bealls (not to be confused with Bealls of Florida), Goody's, Palais Royal and Peebles

Ask the Experts

The savviest Black Friday shoppers can tell the good deals from the bad — and are likely to save the most money. We asked several experts to share some of their shopping smarts with budget-conscious consumers. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and thoughts on the following key questions:

1. How can consumers distinguish between real Black Friday deals and marketing traps?
2. How can consumers protect themselves from overspending on Black Friday?
3. Which day do you believe people get the best deals: Black Friday, Cyber Monday or another day? Why?
4. What are some tips for maximizing bargains on Black Friday?
5. Which types of products are better to buy on Black Friday than on Cyber Monday?

< >

• Larry A. Connatser Family Financial Management Specialist, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia State University
• Mohammed Rawwas Professor of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa College of Business Administration
• A. Ant Ozok Associate Professor, University Of Maryland, Baltimore County

Methodology

In order to determine the retailers offering the most money-saving bargains this coming Black Friday, WalletHub surveyed nearly 8,000 deals from 29 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2019 Black Friday ad scans and calculated the average discount that each retailer plans to offer. The average discount was weighted based on the prediscounted price of the item in order to give more credit to the retailers discounting higher-ticket items. Our sample excludes deals that did not have calculable percentage markdowns.

We then organized the deals into 11 product categories such as “Apparel & Accessories,” “Consumer Electronics” and “Video Games.” When calculating the category averages, we took into account only the retailers that had at least five discounted items in that particular category.

For this report, we examined the following 29 retailers:

1. Academy Sports + Outdoors
2. Ace Hardware
3. Amazon
4. Bealls Florida
5. Belk
6. Best Buy
7. Big Lots
8. BJ's
9. Costco
10. Dell Home
11. Dick's Sporting Goods
12. Fred Meyer
13. Harbor Freight
14. HP
15. JCPenney
16. Kmart

17. Kohl's
18. Lenovo
19. Macy's
20. Meijer
21. New York & Company
22. Nordstrom
23. Office Depot and OfficeMax
24. Sears
25. Stage (includes its five brands: Stage, Bealls (not to be confused with Bealls of Florida), Goody's, Palais Royal and Peebles)
26. Staples
27. Target
28. True Value
29. Walmart

 

Amazon did not provide all the requested info for all their Black Friday deals. As a result, some deals could not be included in our calculations. A total of 251 deals were included.Videos for News Use:

• YouTube (for web embedding National)
• Raw files (for editing into clips)

 Sources: Data used to conduct this study were collected from BFAds.net.

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