Shipt will “onboard” 50,000 more shoppers to its national network, in addition to the 100,000 it announced in October, said the same-day shopping service Monday. Shipt is looking for shoppers nationally but especially in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. People who sign up the next few days can qualify for holiday bonuses through Cyber Monday, plus other local incentives, said the service. Adding the 50,000 will support Shipt’s “continued expansion into new markets and retailers throughout the busy holiday season,” it said. The service doubled its shopper base in the past six months, it said.
Best Buy’s Black Friday deals start Sunday, led by Apple discounts on the MacBook Pro (up to $250), iPad Pro (up to $150), Beats headphones (up to $130) and a starting price of $199 on the iPhone SE vs. its regular $399 tag. Like other big-box retailers, Best Buy will be closed on Thanksgiving; stores open on Black Friday at 5 a.m. local time, closing at 10 p.m. The following day stores will be open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Beginning Nov. 29, extended holiday store hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Nearly all Black Friday deals will be available in store and online, blogged the retailer Thursday. Other deals include a Samsung 70-inch class 6 LED 4K smart TV, $220 off to $529; a $400 discount on a Sony 65-inch X900H 4K Android TV ($999) and $120 savings on a TCL 50-inch 4K Android TV ($229). Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones are $100 off to $199, an HP 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor is $250 off to $499 and Jabra Elite Active 75t true wireless headphones take a $50 shave to $149. Netgear’s AX5200 dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router is half off at $149, and an Aluratek 4K live broadcast webcam is cut $50 to $129. New this year for gift delivery, gifters can have a message emailed to recipients notifying them when the package arrives at their doorstep.
Black Friday is running for 10 days at Roku, which announced discounts across its line Tuesday. The Roku SE streaming stick is a $17 Black Friday special, exclusively at Walmart, while supplies last. Pricing at major retailers Nov. 20-30 includes: the Roku Streaming Stick+, shaved $20 to $29; the Roku Streambar, discounted $30 to $99; Roku Ultra, cut by $30 to $69; and the Roku Premiere, $15 off to $24, it said. Roku also announced limited-time new-customer promotional offers for 30 streaming partners including Showtime and Starz through The Roku Channel. Select premium subscriptions are 99 cents for the first two months, redeemable Nov. 26-30. Remaining Black Friday offers will be available to new subscribers for up to 55% off the first three months and redeemable on The Roku Channel Nov. 26-Dec. 4.
The five-day Black Friday shopping period -- Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday -- will have a lower turnout of general holiday shoppers, said CTA Thursday, saying 45% of U.S. adults plan to shop during the span, down 4 points from a year ago. Thirty percent plan to shop in December, down 8 points from last year. Most U.S. adults buying tech during Black Friday Week plan to shop in brick-and-mortar stores (97%). More consumers plan to use their mobile devices (86%) and voice-activated digital assistants (51%) to shop vs. last year. Some 86% of U.S. shoppers plan to buy tech devices, accessories and/or streaming services during five-day period. Expectations of shipping delays, tight retail inventory and in-store shopping restrictions led many retailers to start holiday sales campaigns early, and more consumers are shopping earlier vs. waiting for Black Friday Week, CTA said. The group projects overall holiday spending, October-December, to reach $135 billion. The online survey of 2,006 U.S., adults was done Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
TV shoppers have plenty of deals to choose from this week as Black Friday sales kick into high gear at big-box retailers. Black Friday starts Wednesday at Conn’s HomePlus, headlined by big-screen TVs from LG, Konka, Samsung, Sony and TCL, said a virtual flyer. “Doorbusters” are available in store and online, while supplies last, led by a 65-inch 4K TV (no brand shown) for $249; a 70-inch LG set at $499; and a 65-inch TCL Roku TV for $429. An 82-inch Samsung model is $700 off to $1,299; 50- and 55-inch Konka Android TVs are $279 and $319. Beginning at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday, a TCL 55-inch Roku TV hits Walmart.com at $148, and a 50-inch model under the retailer’s Onn brand is $128. At Best Buy, Black Friday deals available Monday in select quantities included a 70-inch Samsung 6 series smart Tizen TV, $220 off to $529, and a Samsung 7 series 43-inch, shaved by $12 to $267.
Lenovo’s e-commerce site will begin Black Friday pricing Nov. 16, excluding advertised “doorbusters,” said the PC maker Monday. Some Lenovo.com sales began Monday on select computers and accessories, with daily doorbusters and hourly price drops, it said. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals begin Nov. 25, with the Lenovo ThinkPad T490 ($1,059) laptop. On Thanksgiving, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 ($374) and Yoga C740 ($799) laptops are discounted. On Black Friday, hourly price drops begin at 9 a.m. on the IdeaPad 3 ($329), ThinkPad L390 Yoga ($669), ThinkCentre M90n Nano Desktop ($415) and Legion 5i gaming laptop ($839), said the company. Deals will go through the weekend, while supplies last, with new hourly price cuts beginning on Cyber Monday on an IdeaCentre all-in-one 5i ($1,299), Chromebook S330 ($259), Legion 7i gaming laptop ($2,569) and ThinkPad T14 ($1,349). Select PCs will start at $189, Lenovo said. Sales prices are available only at Lenovo.com through Nov. 30.
Target is pulling Black Friday forward beginning Sunday with the first of a series of weeklong sales running throughout the month, it said Thursday. “Black Friday Now” deals include Beats Studio3 headphones, half off to $175; Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones, $100 off to $199; and the Ring Video Doorbell 3, $60 off to $139. Nov. 8-14, the TCL 65-inch 4K UHD HDR Android Smart TV will be discounted by $170 to $229, said the retailer. In a “completely new approach to Black Friday,” it’s expanding its price match guarantee so customers “don’t need to worry about sacrificing savings if they shop early.” Nov. 1-Dec. 24, customers can request a price adjustment for any item advertised as a “Black Friday Now” deal if it's offered for a lower price at Target or Target.com later in the season. Target will preview ads Thursday ahead of the sales that kick in Sunday so customers can plan ahead, it said. Nearly all the deals will be available via same-day drive-up and order pickup services, and some can be received via same-day delivery with Shipt, at $10 per delivery, “in as soon as one hour, with no membership required.”
Black Friday has not “lost its luster,” blogged NPD Friday, noting the prevalence of Black Friday-themed deals well before Thanksgiving. NPD data showed 17 percent of consumers planned to wait to begin holiday purchases on the high-profile shopping day. Online shopping and deals that span well beyond Thanksgiving weekend have "calmed the commotion" of Black Friday, giving younger consumers a “more dignified shopping event" than Generation X and boomer consumers experienced fighting crowds for doorbuster deals, said analyst Marshal Cohen. Gen Z and Millennial consumers are most likely of all generations to shop on Black Friday, and a third of them planned to spend more than they did last year, said NPD.
In a holiday season showing deeper than expected discounts on the already promotional TV category (see 1911270025), LG announced Wednesday Black Friday price cuts on seven OLED TVs in a limited-time deal good through Cyber Monday. The 55-inch B9 class TV is $1,199 in the promo, $400 off, the lowest price ever for an OLED TV, said the vendor. At the top end, the 77-inch C9 series OLED TV is $4,999, for $2,000 savings, it said. In addition, in a Disney Plus partnership, LG is offering customers who buy a 2019 OLED TV from an LG-authorized dealer through Feb. 9 a 12-month subscription to Disney Plus.
U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $250 on Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, said Simon-Kucher & Partners. The big holiday spenders are in the United Arab Emirates where shoppers plan to shell out more than $750, due in part to the region's higher prices, it said. It found Black Friday is well-known among consumers of all ages in some countries outside the U.S., including Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden, though it only has 54 percent recognition in Japan. Cyber Monday, recognized by 95 percent of U.S. consumers, is catching on elsewhere with 80 percent of consumers in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey planning to shop online that day. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are well-established in certain countries but differ in customer approach. Almost half of German electronics shoppers already know which product they want to buy, but fewer than 25 percent of U.S. consumers are looking for specific products, it said.