NEW YORK (US) – The Black Friday deals will be extended beyond the usual one day this year, said Walmart Inc on Wednesday. This comes as the pandemic compels consumers to alter their spending habits.
The firm said that the revamped promotion offers shoppers slashed rates during three separate savings events in November. Each event will start online at Walmart.com and continue in Walmart stores.
Black Friday is marked the day after the Thanksgiving public holiday and it is a huge marketing event for retailers. But early online promotions have taken the sheen out of it in recent years.
Over the past few months, a host of retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s came out with plans to dish out their earliest shopping season, shifting winter holiday promotions forward to as early as October.
Best Buy sent an email to shoppers on Tuesday advertising huge discounts for laptops, tablets, printers and other items for their “Black Friday Prices Guaranteed Sale.”
Major US retailers have also announced the closure of their outlets on Thanksgiving and plan to bypass the midnight Black Friday door-buster sales, which normally marks the beginning of the holiday season because of social distancing norms.
“Although this year’s event looks different, our commitment to what our customers depend on us for…hasn’t changed,” said Scott McCall, Walmart US executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
