Via Wallethub
Black Friday shopping is one of America’s most treasured holiday traditions. But there’s always a bit of hassle involved: Shoppers have to fight their drowsiness and stand in endless lines at stores following a hearty Thanksgiving dinner — all in the name of savings.
[REITS]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’s analysts surveyed nearly 10,000 deals from 35 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2017 Black Friday ad scans.
Best Stores for Black Friday
Retailer | 2017 Avg. % Discount by Retailer | 2016 Avg. % Discount by Retailer | 2015 Avg. % Discount by Retailer |
Kohl’s | 66.3% | 58.1% | 66.7% |
JCPenney | 66.3% | 62.8% | 68.0% |
Belk | 62.8% | N/A | 59.5% |
Stage | 60.8% | 62.8% | 63.9% |
Shopko | 55.9% | 55.6% | N/A |
Bealls Florida | 52.8% | N/A | N/A |
Sears | 50.1% | 43.9% | 41.7% |
Macy’s | 45.6% | 63.4% | 56.0% |
Fred Meyer | 43.9% | 49.7% | 45.3% |
AAFES | 37.3% | 29.1% | N/A |
Amazon | 36.8% | 24.7% | 25.8% |
Target | 36.2% | 28.6% | 37.3% |
Kmart | 35.8% | 28.6% | 50.1% |
Dick’s Sporting Goods | 35.1% | N/A | N/A |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | 34.5% | 43.0% | 42.8% |
Wal-Mart | 34.2% | 32.6% | 30.1% |
HP | 34.0% | 28.5% | N/A |
Samsung | 34.0% | N/A | N/A |
Dollar General | 33.5% | 36.9% | N/A |
Lowe’s | 33.0% | N/A | N/A |
True Value | 32.8% | 31.9% | N/A |
Meijer | 32.4% | 33.8% | 39.1% |
Staples | 32.3% | 33.1% | 34.4% |
BJ’s | 32.1% | 32.0% | 30.6% |
Guitar Center | 30.0% | N/A | N/A |
Best Buy | 30.0% | 33.2% | 33.5% |
Miscrosoft | 29.6% | N/A | N/A |
Dell Home | 29.3% | 35.7% | 35.3% |
Newegg | 28.3% | N/A | N/A |
Big Lots | 24.1% | 23.5% | 27.1% |
Cabela’s | 23.8% | N/A | N/A |
Harbor Freight | 22.5% | 62.6% | N/A |
Costco | 21.9% | 25.4% | 19.5% |
Ace Hardware | 21.5% | 27.7% | 34.2% |
Bass Pro Shops | 20.8% | N/A | N/A |
All Retailers | 37.1% | 39.0% | 40.2% |
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 |
AAFES | 34.35% | 30.05% | 34.93% | 36.32% | 32.37% | 40.60% |
Ace Hardware | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15.13% |
Amazon | 55.58% | 26.13% | 27.74% | 23.25% | 25.66% | 23.47% |
Bass Pro Shops | 34.40% | N/A | 31.59% | N/A | 31.67% | 22.51% |
Bealls Florida | 50.19% | N/A | N/A | 59.28% | N/A | 50.14% |
Belk | 57.07% | N/A | 54.56% | 49.98% | 53.25% | 46.93% |
Best Buy | N/A | 31.30% | 31.30% | N/A | 38.53% | 26.48% |
Big Lots | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25.61% |
BJ’s | 26.57% | 28.58% | 30.36% | N/A | 28.98% | 32.17% |
Cabela’s | 36.34% | N/A | 25.07% | N/A | N/A | 33.15% |
Costco | 54.11% | 22.90% | 22.54% | N/A | N/A | 21.43% |
Dell Home | N/A | 28.88% | 31.61% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Dick’s Sporting Goods | 35.01% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Dollar General | N/A | 39.56% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 31.95% |
Fred Meyer | 47.17% | 28.18% | 43.18% | N/A | 40.81% | 44.52% |
Guitar Center | N/A | 40.63% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Harbor Freight | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
HP | N/A | 34.04% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
JCPenney | 60.55% | 43.07% | 37.11% | 61.16% | 43.10% | 38.67% |
Kmart | 45.07% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 31.56% | 39.59% |
Kohl’s | 56.09% | 35.07% | 37.43% | 29.83% | 46.66% | 41.60% |
Lowe’s | N/A | N/A | 25.96% | N/A | N/A | 33.90% |
Lenovo | 41.12% | 24.52% | 41.43% | N/A | N/A | 35.34% |
Meijer | N/A | 35.24% | 27.26% | 23.35% | 33.92% | 36.66% |
Miscrosoft | N/A | 29.38% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Newegg | N/A | 26.07% | 34.04% | N/A | N/A | 36.08% |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | N/A | 30.96% | 36.52% | 56.05% | N/A | N/A |
Samsung | N/A | 24.75% | 40.35% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Sears | 60.21% | 39.29% | N/A | 40.00% | N/A | 42.79% |
Shopko | 62.78% | 48.45% | 48.34% | 33.35% | 50.88% | 50.77% |
Stage* | 62.31% | 64.38% | 58.40% | 53.37% | 60.74% | 46.84% |
Staples | N/A | 31.12% | 27.03% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Target | 41.66% | 32.47% | 28.40% | N/A | 35.66% | 39.81% |
True Value | N/A | N/A | 50.38% | 19.94% | N/A | 33.59% |
Wal-Mart | 42.09% | 30.86% | 30.72% | N/A | 28.13% | 38.21% |
Overall Average | 47.51% | 33.58% | 35.68% | 40.49% | 38.80% | 35.69% |
Retailer | Furniture | Jewelry | Books, Movies and Music | Video Games (only the software) | All Other Product Categories |
AAFES | N/A | 41.93% | N/A | 30.22% | 41.33% |
Ace Hardware | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25.94% |
Amazon | 42.55% | 40.47% | 32.91% | N/A | 34.71% |
Bass Pro Shops | 15.37% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 16.61% |
Bealls Florida | 49.47% | 67.67% | N/A | N/A | 58.95% |
Belk | N/A | 67.31% | N/A | N/A | 65.04% |
Best Buy | N/A | N/A | 57.78% | 45.87% | N/A |
Big Lots | 22.62% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 29.21% |
BJ’s | 49.82% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 32.12% |
Cabela’s | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 20.88% |
Costco | 26.27% | 11.65% | N/A | N/A | 27.81% |
Dell Home | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Dick’s Sporting Goods | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 34.93% |
Dollar General | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 18.06% |
Fred Meyer | 64.32% | N/A | N/A | 41.67% | 54.87% |
Guitar Center | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 29.02% |
Harbor Freight | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 22.91% |
HP | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
JCPenney | N/A | 73.10% | N/A | N/A | 65.90% |
Kmart | N/A | N/A | 61.93% | N/A | 44.23% |
Kohl’s | 52.56% | 77.39% | N/A | N/A | 68.35% |
Lowe’s | 35.62% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 30.26% |
Macy’s | 40.13% | 47.83% | N/A | N/A | 56.46% |
Meijer | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 43.29% |
Miscrosoft | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Newegg | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 30.95% |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | 41.41% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48.94% |
Samsung | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Sears | N/A | 74.00% | N/A | N/A | 46.80% |
Shopko | 62.50% | 75.56% | N/A | 36.76% | 63.06% |
Stage* | N/A | 70.84% | N/A | N/A | 63.31% |
Staples | 38.15% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48.52% |
Target | N/A | N/A | 62.48% | 46.18% | 43.61% |
True Value | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 28.69% |
Wal-Mart | N/A | N/A | 69.86% | 48.75% | 39.13% |
Overall Average | 41.60% | 58.89% | 56.99% | 41.58% | 41.13% |
*Includes the retailer’s five brands: Stage, Bealls (not to be confused with Bealls of Florida), Goody’s, Palais Royal and Peeble
Methodology
In order to determine the retailers offering the most money-saving bargains this coming Black Friday, WalletHub surveyed nearly 10,000 deals from 35 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2017 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.
For this report, Wallethub examined the following 35 retailers:
- AAFES
- Ace Hardware
- Amazon
- Bass Pro Shops
- Bealls Florida
- Belk
- Best Buy
- Big Lots
- BJ’s
- Cabela’s
- Costco
- Dell Home
- Dick’s Sporting Goods
- Dollar General
- Fred Meyer
- Guitar Center
- Harbor Freight
- HP
- JCPenney
- Kmart
- Kohl’s
- Lowe’s
- Macy’s
- Meijer
- Microsoft
- Newegg
- Office Depot and OfficeMax
- Samsung
- Sears
- Shopko
- Stage (includes its five brands: Stage, Bealls (not to be confused with Bealls of Florida), Goody’s, Palais Royal and Peebles)
- Staples
- Target
- True Value
- Wal-Mart
Please note that the following retailers did not respond to Wallethub’s requests for data despite their assurance not to disclose specific names of discounted items:
- Sherwin-Williams
- Pottery Barn
- Sephora
- Ralph Lauren
Amazon did not provide all the requested info for all their Black Friday deals. As a result, some deals could not be included in their calculations. A total of 265 deals were included.
Sources: Data used to conduct this study were collected from BlackFriday.com.
Data and text via WalletHub