Top Retailers Get a Head Start on Black Friday, Cyber Monday Deals
Heading into the pivotal week of the retail sales year, Amazon and other retailers pulled tentpole shopping events ahead by a few days to grab limited consumer dollars. At Amazon, some Black Friday sales kicked into gear Monday, with $100 off Fitbit smartwatches and up to 40% off laptops, plus high double-digit deals on its Fire TV, Echo and Ring devices.
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Amazon also turned Cyber Monday into a three-day event, saying this year “Cyber Monday weekend” starts Saturday. Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express, is a day shoppers are encouraged to shop small and in local stores. Amazon’s Cyber Monday news release said it's making it “easier than ever before” for customers to discover and shop products from small businesses.
Amazon mapped out an “everything-you-need-to-know” shopping guide for Cyber Monday, traditionally the highest online revenue day of the year. Cyber Monday and days leading up to it are expected to come under pressure this holiday season, according to industry watchers, who listed inflation and high interest rates among factors weighing on consumers’ minds and wallets.
At Amazon, Cyber Monday deals will begin Saturday at 3:01 a.m. EST, continuing through Monday at 2:59 a.m. EST. In addition to deals on Amazon gear, Amazon highlighted 30% savings on select accessories from Anker, 40% discounts on headphones from Bose, JBL, Sony, Skullcandy and Shokz, and 40% off eero mesh Wi-Fi systems.
Cyber Monday is still expected to be the top spending day of the season, growing 3.8% to over $12 billion, said eMarketer in October (see 2210210041. The Cyber Five shopping days, beginning with Thanksgiving, are being eroded by early holiday season sales in October, industry watchers report. In a holiday preview this month (see 2211020080), Adobe predicted “the slowest growth we’ve ever seen” in '22 November-December spending, about 2.5% to $209.7 billion.
Analyst Michael Klein noted tough comparisons with stimulus-inspired spending in the prior two years, when online sales grew 9% year on year (2021) and 33% from 2019-2020. Klein predicted “record discounts on electronics” beginning with up to 27% discounts on headphones on Thanksgiving, 19% discounts on TVs on Black Friday and 32% discounts on computers on Cyber Monday.
NPD projected a decline in online shoppers in November-December, as more shoppers head to stores. “After two years of strong growth supported by at-home pandemic-era needs, consumers expect to spend fewer dollars this holiday season on CE,” said advisor Paul Gagnon the first week of November (see 2211010058).
Best Buy began its Black Friday Sale Monday, highlighting deals on laptops: $179 for a 14-inch Asus 2-in-1 Chromebook; $400 off select Windows models; $230 off a 15-inch HP touchscreen laptop ($399); and up to $500 off select MacBooks (starting at $799). In TV deals, a TCL 55-inch 5-Series QLED 4K TV is $230 off to $199, and a 65-inch LG 83 Series QNED Mini-LED 4K TV is $700 off to $999.
Target’s Black Friday week sale began Monday, with the retailer promising up to 50% off electronics, toys and videogames, including $300 off an Element 65-inch TV to $329. New deals will launch on Thanksgiving and run through Saturday, said the retailer.