Walmart Goes After Rivals With Early Black Friday Sale

For Walmart, Black Friday is kind of like the Super Bowl. The world's largest retailer plans for it all year long — and it's prepared to do whatever it takes to win.

That includes matching or beating select Black Friday deals from its competitors one week early. After announcing details of its 2014 Black Friday promotion last week, Walmart has now revealed a pre-Black Friday savings event, which will offer deals on HDTVs, game systems, and more.

Walmart's second-annual early Black Friday event kicks off this Friday at 8 a.m. and runs through Nov. 27, or until supplies last, store executives announced during a media event Tuesday at the company's North Bergen, N.J. store.

"We scoured all the ads across all the competitors and all the categories that we participate in and we said we will match or beat a select number of those items," said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S.

Specific items included in the sale will be posted on Walmart.com this Thursday, Nov. 20 and the deals will be activated Friday morning. Executives said the event will include deals on a 40-inch LED HDTV, 60-inch TVs from LG and Sony, and a Canon wireless printer. There will also be a PlayStation 4 offer.

As part of the event, Walmart will also offer "Black Friday-like" prices on a variety of items. Those deals include:

Samsung 58-inch Smart LED HDTV — $698
Samsung 40-inch LED HDTV with "Frozen Sing-Along Edition" — $298
New iPad Air 2 16GB, WiFi — $489 with a $100 Walmart gift card
A $75 gift card with the purchase of the iPhone 6 or 5s
iPhone 6 for $179 or iPhone 5s for $79 with a two-year service agreement on Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon
iPhone 6 and 5s available for $0 down for AT&T Next or Verizon Edge customers (plans available in select markets)

"We've had a team working specifically on our holiday season for literally a year — looking at what are the right products, buying deep, assessing the customers, studying the market, and making sure we're going to win," Mac Naughton said.

Last year, 22 million people walked through Walmart's doors on Black Friday. Electronics are "by far" the best-selling product category for Walmart on Black Friday, said Laura Phillips, senior vice president of Entertainment for Walmart U.S. (pictured). On the tech front, the company is focusing on three key categories: TVs, gaming, and wireless.

Walmart is discounting about 15 different TVs this year, starting at the pre-Black Friday event. This year also marks the first time Walmart has included a wearable (the Fitbit Flex) and an ultra HD TV (the Samsung 55-inch 4K ultra HD curved smart TV) in its Black Friday promotion.

To meet demand, Walmart has secured three times as many PlayStation 4 consoles and 30 percent more smartphones, mobile accessories, and other wireless devices as it did last year. The company is also opening more registers during the holidays. Its goal is to have all checkout lines open during peak hours.

For Walmart, there are three main types of holiday shoppers, Mac Naughton said. Some prefer to shop exclusively online, others are "fanatics" about shopping in-store and hunting for the best deals in person. And then, there's the procrastinators, who come out on Christmas Eve looking for gifts.

"We're ready for any of them," Mac Naughton said.

For more deals every day, check out TechBargains.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes.

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app.

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth.

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light.

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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