2021’s best places to shop on black friday
Republished with permission from WalletHub
Black Friday shopping is one of America’s most treasured holiday traditions, but there’s always a bit of hassle involved. Traditionally, shoppers have to get up early, stand in endless lines at stores, and try to find deals through hordes of other shoppers — all in the name of savings.
Last year, in-person shopping was very limited by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time ever, the number of Americans who shopped online on Black Friday passed 100 million, while in-store shopping dropped by 37%. Businesses are largely open to full capacity this year, though, so we may see a resurgence in in-person shopping.
Black Friday sales have also been changing during the past few years. They are starting earlier, weeks ahead of the actual shopping holiday at some stores.
That’s good news for consumers who want to stretch out their purchases over a longer period of time rather than buying everything in one day. So which stores offer the best discounts and for which items?
To answer that question and help consumers maximize their Black Friday savings, WalletHub surveyed nearly 5,000 deals from 21 of the biggest U.S. retailers’ 2021 Black Friday ad scans.
Below, we’ve listed the stores offering the largest advertised discounts in various product categories such as “Jewelry” and “Appliances.”
Best Places to Shop on Black Friday
RETAILER |
2021 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2020 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2019 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2018 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2017 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2016 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
2015 Avg % Discount by Retailer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Macy’s | 58.5% | 56.0% | 46.1% | 48.7% | 45.6% | 63.4% | 56.0% |
JCPenney | 57.6% | 56.7% | 61.0% | 65.1% | 66.3% | 62.8% | 68.0% |
Belk | 56.7% | 50.0% | 66.9% | 68.9% | 62.8% | N/A | 59.5% |
Kohl’s | 49.3% | 51.9% | 57.1% | 60.8% | 66.3% | 58.1% | 66.7% |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | 42.8% | 33.3% | 36.6% | 42.6% | 34.5% | 43.0% | 42.8% |
Lenovo | 40.3% | 44.1% | 38.6% | 40.1% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Nordstrom | 33.2% | 39.0% | 36.9% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Walmart | 31.6% | 27.8% | 34.3% | 29.9% | 34.2% | 32.6% | 30.1% |
HP | 31.3% | 31.7% | 37.4% | 27.5% | 34.0% | 28.5% | N/A |
Big Lots | 29.2% | 20.0% | 27.9% | 22.9% | 24.1% | 23.5% | 27.1% |
Amazon | 27.5% | 26.5% | 25.4% | 29.3% | 36.8% | 24.7% | 25.8% |
Academy Sports + Outdoors | 26.3% | 31.5% | 31.8% | 28.0% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
BJ’s | 26.1% | N/A | 39.3% | 31.0% | 32.1% | 32.0% | 30.6% |
Dell Home | 24.3% | 21.3% | 28.6% | 27.4% | 29.3% | 35.7% | 35.3% |
Target | 22.7% | 28.1% | 34.3% | 34.8% | 36.2% | 28.6% | 37.3% |
Best Buy | 22.3% | 25.3% | 29.5% | 28.7% | 30.0% | 33.2% | 33.5% |
Overstock.com | 22.1% | 22.7% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Costco | 20.5% | 22.0% | 21.3% | 25.1% | 21.9% | 25.4% | 19.5% |
Newegg | 20.0% | 23.8% | N/A | 28.4% | 28.3% | N/A | N/A |
Sam’s Club | 19.1% | 22.6% | N/A | 22.3% | N/A | 28.3% | 24.9% |
Ace Hardware | 11.7% | 8.6% | 11.8% | 21.9% | 21.5% | 27.7% | 34.2% |
Overall Average | 32.1% | 32.1% | 40.4% | 37.0% | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Sports + Outdoors | 29.40% | 30.80% | 32.03% | N/A | 26.67% |
Ace Hardware | N/A | N/A | N/A | 28.77% | N/A |
Amazon | 24.63% | 28.29% | 26.79% | 27.38% | 26.99% |
Belk | 58.69% | 43.80% | 39.08% | 23.61% | 48.75% |
Best Buy | N/A | 26.31% | 20.29% | N/A | N/A |
Big Lots | N/A | N/A | N/A | 11.85% | N/A |
BJ’s | N/A | 20.87% | 23.41% | N/A | 39.86% |
Costco | 24.66% | 20.13% | 17.05% | N/A | N/A |
Dell Home | N/A | 24.34% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
HP | N/A | 31.30% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
JCPenney | 58.89% | N/A | 48.84% | 42.23% | 54.66% |
Kohl’s | 44.69% | 37.63% | 36.64% | N/A | 33.24% |
Lenovo | N/A | 40.77% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Macy’s | 47.43% | 53.50% | 58.00% | 48.91% | 56.58% |
Newegg | N/A | 16.87% | 34.08% | N/A | N/A |
Nordstrom | 43.97% | N/A | N/A | 8.01% | N/A |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | N/A | 30.84% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Overstock.com | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Sam’s Club | N/A | N/A | 17.13% | 2.62% | N/A |
Target | N/A | 24.37% | 17.60% | N/A | 21.44% |
Walmart | 23.14% | 41.75% | 19.38% | N/A | 22.36% |
Overall Average | 39.50% | 31.44% | 30.03% | 24.17% | 36.73% |
Retailer |
Appliances |
Furniture |
Jewelry |
All Other Product Categories |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Sports + Outdoors | 15.75% | N/A | N/A | 26.24% |
Ace Hardware | 5.10% | N/A | N/A | 17.45% |
Amazon | 22.98% | 28.05% | 17.49% | 31.61% |
Belk | 60.68% | N/A | 80.22% | 68.81% |
Best Buy | 21.51% | N/A | N/A | 29.39% |
Big Lots | 41.91% | 26.99% | N/A | 28.77% |
BJ’s | 27.65% | 34.27% | N/A | 23.82% |
Costco | 24.31% | 18.89% | 22.48% | 24.19% |
Dell Home | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
HP | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
JCPenney | 53.66% | N/A | 57.66% | 62.84% |
Kohl’s | 39.92% | N/A | 75.58% | 57.67% |
Lenovo | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Macy’s | 57.62% | 41.54% | 65.97% | 57.81% |
Newegg | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Nordstrom | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Office Depot and OfficeMax | N/A | 49.17% | N/A | N/A |
Overstock.com | N/A | 21.85% | N/A | 22.97% |
Sam’s Club | 25.10% | 22.64% | N/A | 16.54% |
Target | 21.99% | 33.05% | N/A | 26.10% |
Walmart | 38.14% | N/A | N/A | 44.37% |
Overall Average | 32.59% | 30.72% | 53.23% | 35.90% |