Black Friday had an absence of “hot” product offerings, blogged NPD Tuesday, saying consumers returned to stores but with a “leisurely start” that was similar to that of a "busy weekend.” Deep discounts were the main draw, and shelves were well-stocked, it said. Some of the best bargains seemed to have sold out early, said Paul Gagnon, consumer technology industry adviser, but there were “plenty of other choices stacked in aisles and open areas of stores.” TVs and video game consoles were especially plentiful, and TVs priced below $500 "resonated with shoppers,” Gagnon said. Still, “deeper discounts may still be needed to adjust inventory.”
Subscription VOD services are getting into the holiday promo race as brands vie for limited consumer budgets this season. HBO Max is having a Black Friday sale, offering a three-month subscription at $1.99 per month, down from $9.99, through Monday. Hulu’s Black Friday deal, through Monday, is for Hulu (With Ads) for $1.99 per month for 12 months, before going up to $7.99 or the "then-current regular monthly price,” it said. The Disney+ bundle -- with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ -- is $13.99, or $79 now, before going up Dec. 8. Paramount+’s Black Friday deal is half off an annual plan for the first year, for new and returning subscribers. Discounted plans are $24.99, with a free week, for the Essential plan, $49.99 for Premium. The deal ends Sunday.
Audio and TV brands continued their hunt for consumer wallet share Tuesday, getting a jump on Black Friday weekend. Sonos is discounting single products and bundles by 20% in a holiday offer that runs through Monday, the company emailed customers Tuesday. Deals start on the Roam SL portable speaker, bringing the price to $127.20. At the top end, a premium home theater set with a Sonos Sub plus a pair of One SL speakers is $917 with the discount. Vizio has parsed out deals among major retailers with sound bar and TV price cuts at Amazon, Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart, it said Monday. TV deals, most through Monday, include the 70-inch Vizio V-Series V705x at Walmart for $448 ($549 elsewhere); the 75-inch V755M-K03 for $649 at Best Buy ($130 off) and $648 at Walmart; the 65-inch M65Q6-J09 M-Series Quantum 6 for $459 at Target, with $220 savings plus a $25 Target gift card through Saturday; and the 75-inch M75Q6-J03, $170 off at Sam’s Club for $679. Vizio’s lowest price TV is the HD D32fm-K01, selling at a $20 discount at Best Buy for $169. The steepest TV discount is $200 off the Vizio M75QXM-K03 75-inch TV, selling for $999 at Sam’s Club. Holiday prices on Vizio sound bars start at $59 for the V20xt-K6 at Target, savings of $70, through Saturday, the company said. The steepest discounts on Vizio sound bars are at Best Buy: $300 off the M512E-K6 ($499) and the P514a-H6 ($699).
As retailers ratchet up their Cyber Week promotions, brands are stepping up direct-to-consumer offers to win high-margin sales, we found in emails and scans of e-commerce sites Monday. In an offer that ends Tuesday, Bose is shaving an extra $50 off the price of the SoundLink Mini II Bluetooth speaker for members of its loyalty club, bringing it to $129. Samsung showed the Galaxy Z Fold4 (starting at $569) with an instant $350 discount, plus $300 guaranteed trade-in credit on Galaxy and Apple phones in “any condition.” Another Samsung Black Friday deal had the Odyssey Ark 55-inch curved gaming screen at $700 off to $2,799. Its 65-inch QN90B Neo QLED 4K smart TV was $1,000 off Monday, a 38% savings to $1,599, the same Black Friday deal price at Best Buy. Leica shoppers who buy an SL2/SL2-S camera body or bundle will get a free M-Adapter L (valued at $450) in a Black Friday deal, Leica said. Anker accessories are up to 30% off in a series of limited-time deals that change each day through Dec. 4.
After cutting Q4 revenue guidance Wednesday due to weakening consumer demand for discretionary categories (see 2211160033), Target announced Thursday its Black Friday week sale will start Sunday with up to 50% off electronics, toys and video games. Deals run through Super Saturday, and “savings will continue” in a two-day Cyber event through Cyber Monday, with “hundreds of thousands” new deals exclusively on Target.com and the Target app, it said. Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington cited “one million” items on sale, highlighting Apple among CE brands. Electronics offers starting Sunday are $50 off an Xbox Series S console, plus a $50 gift card; $300 off an Element 65-inch smart TV to $329; a $100 discount on Beats Solo 3 wireless headphones to $99; and $105 off an iRobot Roomba 675 vacuum to $174. Target stores will close on Thanksgiving, opening at 7 a.m. local time on Black Friday, it said.
U.S. Black Friday retail sales, in stores and online, will grow 15% year on year, said a Tuesday Mastercard report. In-store sales are projected to grow 18% as doorbusters, window displays and brick-and-mortar collaborations bring shoppers back to stores, it said. “While retailers have already been heavily discounting this season, consumers and retailers are likely holding out for some special offers to land on the biggest promotional day of the year,” said Mastercard adviser Steve Sadove. Early holiday promotions drove October increases of 9.5% year on year at retail and 12.7% for e-commerce. Electronics sales were up 4.5% in October, it said. Mastercard expects department stores to post a 25% sales increase as consumers seek one-stop shopping.
Amazon pumped up its own brands with early Black Friday sales, it said Monday, pushing Alexa-enabled devices at up to 70% discounts, Ring devices at 60% off and half off Amazon Fire TV 4K TVs and sticks. The 75-inch Amazon Omni Fire TV was selling for $749 at Amazon Monday and $859 at Bestbuy.com. The 50-inch 4-Series Fire TV was $249 Monday, both at Amazon and Best Buy, which showed it at a $220 discount with 30 free days of FuboTV, three months of Apple TV+ and a four-month free trial to Amazon Music Unlimited thrown in. The deals list the 50-inch Fire TVs at $50 under Vizio’s V-Series 50-inch SmartCast TV, a top-selling 50-inch loss leader Vizio has used for much of the year to build up the active user account base for its WatchFree+ service (see 2205130032).
Walmart cut the price of a Walmart+ membership by half for new signups through Thursday. The offer is for an annual membership, bringing the price to $49. Members get early access to the retailer’s Black Friday deals that will begin next week, as part of its Monday November Black Friday Deals for Days. Walmart+ members will get access to the weekly deals at noon EST, seven hours before other customers, it said. Among Monday's deals: a Samsung 2.1 soundbar with subwoofer ($99), an HP 11.6-inch Chromebook ($79), Hisense 75-inch 4K Roku smart TV ($448), TCL 55-inch 4K smart TV ($188), LG 65-inch TV ($398), Roku 4K Streaming Stick ($20) and AirPods Pro with charging case ($159). Membership also includes a Paramount+ subscription, free store delivery, free shipping with no minimum and fuel savings. Walmart is also offering a free six-month Spotify subscription via the loyalty program.
Some 63% of Americans considerBlack Friday shopping a tradition, and 40% “miss the chaos” of in-person Black Friday shopping, said a Tuesday UserTesting survey of 2,003 U.S. consumers fielded Sept. 26. Four in 10 said Black Friday shopping holds more importance for them than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ninety-five percent plan to participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday events, and a third plan to shop online and in stores. About 31% of consumers plan to spend more than in previous years, 26% the same and 40% less, the survey said. Some 46% of holiday shoppers plan to go to stores vs. 28% using curbside shopping, it said. On online shopping features they would like to bring into stores, 51% said they would like to see where items are located in a store and 47% wanted to use promo codes and digital coupons. About 81% in Generation Z said immediate fulfillment is their primary driver for attending shopping events in person vs. 49% of millennials.
A new Black Friday event was announced Tuesday, but it doesn’t have anything to do with deals. The NFL and Amazon said Prime Video will exclusively stream a newly scheduled Black Friday football game in 2023, the day after Thanksgiving. Keeping consumers at home in front of their TVs could further affect Black Friday in-store traffic, which has been challenged in recent years with the rise of online shopping and competition from Cyber Monday. Last year, the National Retail Federation said 66.5 million consumers shopped in stores on Black Friday, and an additional 88 million shopped online. Kickoff for the 2023 Black Friday game will be at 3 p.m. EST, with participating teams to be announced when the 2023 schedule is released, they said.