Black Friday has transformed from a one-day event into sales spanning two months. Target, Walmart and Amazon started sales in early October.
While that might seem too early for holiday shopping, it's a great chance to spread out expenses over a few months to avoid a debt hangover in January.
To make the most of Black Friday, youโll need endurance. Weโve got some advice for how to fight โpromotion fatigue,โ sort through the sales, and stretch your holiday budget.
Have a plan to beat โpromotion fatigueโ
Letโs be honest. A constant barrage of sales for three months is a lot. So make a plan to help yourself navigate and save.
Shop more to save more
As we enter the holiday season, โthere's about to be an onslaught of promotion fatigue,โ says Mark Bergen, the James D. Watkins Chair in Marketing at the University of Minnesota. The stream of sales can feel overwhelming. โI think fatigue and exhaustion could lead to mistakes, and overspending could be a very natural mistake,โ he says.
It might seem counterintuitive, but Bergen says that to avoid overspending, โactually shop a little more.โ Checking competitor prices before buying is one way to do this. It might be worth making a trip to another store or waiting to purchase a product online if it saves you money.
Before making online purchases, visiting a store to see the item in person can be worthwhile. Size, color and quality are often hard to estimate online. Check out the item in store, then buy online when the best deal hits without fear of disappointment once it arrives.
Set up alerts to cash in on price adjustments
Many retailers will offer extended price matching or price adjustments through the end of the year. While itโs tempting to buy a big-ticket item and move on, itโs worth keeping an eye out through the season. If you find it cheaper where you bought it (or at a competitor), take your receipt into the store and ask for the difference back. If the store doesnโt offer a price guarantee, the credit card you used might.
Take shortcuts to set yourself up for success. Jane Boyd Thomas, a professor of marketing at Winthrop University in South Carolina, suggests setting Google alerts on items to notify you of price drops. Browser extensions like Honey also offer to โwatchโ a product and alert you when it drops below a certain price.
Automating alerts is the best of both worlds: You get to set it and forget about it, unless a price drops below what you paid โ then you get to pocket the difference.
Remember budgeting basics
Making a list, estimating costs and sticking to your budget isnโt necessarily a โmodern or sexyโ approach, Thomas notes, โbut it is a tried and true way of being a good consumer.โ
โConsumers should always go back to the basics,โ she says. That means asking yourself questions like: โWhat is my budget for holiday shopping? And who am I buying for?โ Then make a list, Thomas says, โso youโre not easily swayed.โ
A good deal might be good enough
Black Friday is about scoring the best deal, but in an extended shopping season also beset by inflation, settling for good enough might work.
Bergen suggests consumers be patient. โI think you're just going to see just a little more frustration,โ he says, โand to the degree people can be forgiving of themselves or, you know, kinder to themselves, realize that they got a reasonably good deal โ that's still a good job in inflation.โ
Check out more Black Friday reads for a look at what to buy, how to save money and more:
Everything you need to know for Black Friday 2022
This yearโs Black Friday will be similar to last yearโs, but many stores are starting their sales earlier and major retailers will be adding additional deals to their websites on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Jon Vincent, founder of EarlyBlackFriday.com and a national expert on Black Friday deals, gives us tips on how to navigate shopping this year.
You can find all of the 2022 Black Friday ads and Cyber Monday deals from your favorite retailers on EarlyBlackFriday.com.
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