If you’re a shopper, you probably have November 25 marked on your calendar right now. This year, November 24 is Black Friday and the beginning get of the holiday shopping season. We have observed a consistent “Black Friday creep” over the past few years. What used to be one day now spans the entirety of the months of November and October. Pre-Black Friday sales have been known to begin in October, and official Black Friday online deals have been known to begin as early as a week before Thanksgiving. In addition, the shopping events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become more and more intertwined, with sales beginning, continuing through Saturday and Sunday, and then beginning in earnest on Cyber Monday.
Finally, gone are the days when sales on Black Friday were limited to that one day.
You’d be correct in thinking that this is total chaos. That’s why you need to have a strategy in place. Most notably this year. With inflation on the rise, smart shopping can help you stock up on necessities to get you through the coming year without breaking the bank.
And so, it is our mission to assist you in compiling a comprehensive list of necessities for your next grocery run. This is the official shopping guide that we’ve put together for you.
Black Friday is a day for shopping.
Confession time: for four years running, I spent my Thanksgivings and Christmases as the editor of our sister site BlackFriday.com, where I read every page of every store’s ad. The following recommendations are based on our research of the most attractive sales during the past few years. But keep checking back for updates because anything can happen, especially in these unprecedented times.
Products That Should Be at the Top of Your List This Black Friday
The following items will be available at some of the year’s lowest prices on Black Friday. You can calmly add them to your cart, swiftly complete your purchase, and then settle in for a restful Thanksgiving break.
Digital Devices, Including Computers, Laptops, and Tablets
Black Friday is the best time to buy a new computer, whether you’re in the market for a laptop, desktop, gaming PC, or tablet. The Best Buy website won’t sell Apple products, but other stores will. Plus, all weekend long, you can take advantage of doorbuster discounts on products from Dell, Lenovo, and HP purchased online. Check out their ads in advance to see what’s being released and when, as these electronic sale events can be difficult to navigate.
Unfortunately, most of the time the machines with the lowest doorbuster prices also have the lowest quality specifications. The price is lower than usual, so you can put the “extra” money toward better storage or a faster computer. If you want to know what features are essential, check out this PCMag buying guide. A longer shipping time may be in store for you if you opt for any sort of laptop customization due to current worker shortages and chip shortages. The good news is that it seems the chip shortage that severely disrupted last year’s holiday shopping season is beginning to ease, in need of a new tablet One of the best things to buy on Black Friday are tablets. You can almost certainly find Black Friday iPad deals at Best Buy and Target. Also, be sure to peruse Amazon’s sales on its own wares (Fire tablets and Kindles). This year, Amazon discounted the price of the Fire HD 8 tablet from $89.99 to $44.99 on Prime Day, while the price of the Fire HD 10 tablet went down from $150 to $74.99.
Home electronics
Consider waiting until Black Friday to purchase that high-end stand mixer, blender, air fryer, or pressure cooker you’ve been eyeing.
On Black Friday, pressure cookers (like the Instant Pot) and air fryers are among the most common kitchen appliances to go on sale. Everything will be fifty percent off.
You can also get huge discounts on blenders like Vitamix and NutriBullet. Black Friday deals can be found at many major retailers, including Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, and Macy’s. Last-minute holiday shoppers may find it helpful that Kohl’s frequently includes Kohl’s Cash offers in their advertised prices on small appliances.
And if there’s one appliance you should keep an eye out for this Black Friday, it’s the KitchenAid mixer. Multiple models are available, and during Black Friday sales, you can often find them priced $100 or less. Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Macy’s, Kohl’s, and KitchenAid itself are some places to look for discounts like this. KitchenAid mixers discounted during Black Friday sales have consistently sold out early in recent years. Make sure you get the KitchenAid mixer in the colour that works best in your kitchen by adding it to your shopping cart right away if it’s on your list this year.
Headphones, Earbuds, and AirPods That Don’t Connect to Your Device
Retailers like Walmart and Target have made attractive discounts on Airpods and comparable earbuds the focal point of their Black Friday ads for the past two years. We saw the AirPods Pro (regular price: $249) go on sale for $159 at Walmart on Black Friday in 2022. That offer was quickly absorbed by buyers, but competition emerged at the $189 price point. Similarly, the Beats Studio Buds True Wireless earphones dropped in price from $149.99 to $99.99, and the Powerbeats Pro went from $249.95 to $149.99 at Target.
The normally $119.99 Echo Buds were discounted by Amazon to $69.99 for Prime Day 2022, and it’s likely that this offer will be repeated for Black Friday.
While earbuds have taken the world by storm due to their portability and convenience, Black Friday also offers great deals on more powerful equipment (such as over-ear headphones for noise cancellation and/or comfort). The QuietComfort 45 headphones by Bose retailed for $329 at full price but were on sale at Target for 43% off, bringing the price down to $179.99.
Convenient High-Tech Additions to the Home
Many people don’t yet own an Alexa-enabled speaker like the Amazon Echo or a smart speaker like the Google Nest, but on Black Friday, you can get one at a steep discount. They always appear to be the case. Amazon and Google have made it an annual tradition to offer 40 percent or more off their smart speakers on Black Friday. You can often find buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals on smart speakers that also include a smart plug, smart bulb, or even a second smart speaker. Both Google and Amazon are lowering the prices of their smart speakers in an effort to lure as many people as possible into their respective product ecosystems. On Black Friday 2022, for instance, the Amazon Echo Show 5 smart video screen was 53 percent off, going from $79 to $39.
The prices of inexpensive screenless smart speakers that are ideal for the holidays have dropped to stocking stuffer levels. The Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) just went on sale for $19.99 on Prime Day. On Black Friday Deals of last year, you could buy a Google Nest Mini for $24.99 at many different stores like Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond.
