Beat the rush by shopping in advance. A lot of Black Friday sales are beginning early this year. (Reuters)
Black Friday means holiday savings: It’s that time of the year where businesses aggressively target consumers to spend, spend, spend!
To that end, before your turkey is even carved, the major retail stores will have already "leaked" their biggest and best Black Friday deals online and across social media platforms.
“Companies will post deals and updates in real-time via tweets and Facebook posts,” Ken Wisnefski, owner of Internet marketing firm Webimax, told FoxNews.com.
“On Black Friday, it's all about having the right information and resources to be successful. Social media’s dramatic reach and effectiveness provides this ability,” Wisnefski said.
But with so many sites and advertising flyers, how can consumers survive the crowds and still pick out the best deals?
To prepare for a day of prosperous power shopping on Black Friday, here’s a look at some popular shopping comparison sites and mobile apps to give you the extra edge and inside scoop this holiday season.
BlackFriday.com provides shoppers with everything they need to know for the biggest shopping day of the year. Between early access to Black Friday flyers and coverage of the best deals in-store and online from top retailers, the site will give you an exclusive look at what you're in store for on November 25th.
BlackFriday.com spokeswoman Alex Chu says you can expect big discounts from major toy stores this year. “We have copies of several toy books already, including Sears, Walmart, Target and Toys R Us. These books highlight some of the must have items for the season,” she told FoxNews.com.
FatWallet.com created the Black Friday Deal Finder and iPhone app that helps shoppers compare all of the Black Friday deals by store, product, brand and price. As the crowds grow deeper and the lines start to creep out the door, your patience can be saved by the FatWallet mobile app -- it can find and check all the best deals while you're on the go.
“Ignore the clutter and figure out the most important items on your list that are best fit for a Black Friday deal,” Ryan Washatka, COO of FatWallet.com advised.
Retailers often rely on their morning door-buster deals to lure consumers into their stores and to get rid of last year’s inventory. Rising before dawn can potentially leave you disappointed, however: Most of these deals are limited quantity and are on sale only for a short period of time.
Offers.com reported that only 18 percent of consumers surveyed plan to visit the malls on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The deal-tracker web site posts similar door-buster deals and coupons online.
“Offers.com has a team of savings experts searching for the best deals and hand-verifying thousands of deals and online coupons, so consumers can skip the long lines and crowds on black Friday and find great deals on exactly what they are looking for,” Steve Schaffer, CEO of DailyDeals.com told FoxNews.com.
NoBetterDeal.com is another great web store that offers major discounts year round. By doing business in the secondary markets (product returns and surplus inventory) the company is able to sell items for 40 to 70 percent off the retail price.
Tom McElroy, Vice President at NoBetterDeals.com, said the site will offer special Black Friday discounts on its social media sites -- but they might not a game changer for you. “We have everyday low prices so you’re able to find a better deal on our site than you would from a Black Friday deal.”
PriceGrabber.com’s recent holiday survey found that 90 percent of consumers plan on doing some of their shopping online from a computer and 13 percent from a mobile device.
PriceGrabber’s mobile app offers shoppers a way to check and compare in-store prices to online prices by scanning the barcode of an in-store item with your phone. It also features a localization category that can find you the lowest price on an item it the closest store to you.
Coupon coach Laurie Meyers says the key to a successful and thrifty Black Friday is to do your research on the items you want most and not to overindulge in enticing price tags on items you don’t need.
“Don’t get distracted with too much extra fluff, no matter how good the deal is,” Meyers told FoxNews.com.
“It’s kind of like pumpkin pie. The third piece still looks good, but it’s never as good as the very first bite,” she added.
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