Over the past few years, BFAds has seen retailers put an added focus on their online Black Friday sales. Retailers want consumers to shop both in-store and online, but that’s not logistically possible (I guess one could shop on their mobile phone while in-store, but that’s not the desired online shopping experience). To counter this, retailers are starting their online Black Friday sales as early as Wednesday night (and through Thanksgiving morning) so that shoppers can participate in both sales (in-store and online). Amazon has already announced they will again be doing a full week of Black Friday sales starting Monday, November 19.

Shop Early

With the emergence of these online sales, it allows retailers to be more versatile in their offerings. A printed ad has to be designed, printed and delivered; an online sale can be created and launched in under an hour. We’re now seeing Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon (amongothers) competing directly in the online space both during and leading up to Black Friday.

If Best Buy is offering a 42″ TV for $300 in their Black Friday sale, it’s not unlikely that Amazon or Walmart might also offer a similarly-spec’d 42″ TV for $300 sometime prior to Black Friday.

A real-life example from last year is that we saw Walmart put their PlayStation 3 160GB Entertainment Bundle on sale for $199.99 three days before Black Friday. At the $200 price-point, that matched both Best Buy’s and Walmart’s Black Friday pricing.

Further, most retailers are attempting to supplement their Black Friday sales by having weekly or weekend sales leading up to Black Friday. These sales do not usually compete fully with the Black Friday ad, but sometimes feature select items at their Black Friday prices. This is a great way for shoppers to get some of their Black Friday shopping done early.

Don’t Stray from Your Shopping List

Many of the items contained in the Black Friday ads are great deals and the most sought after items are usually sold at a loss (loss-leaders). However, to make up for the loss-leaders, retailers have to sell other products at higher-than-normal markups. What that means to the shopper is that non-advertised (and even some advertised) products are sold at not-so-competitive price points compared to the weeks surrounding Black Friday.

If one “strikes out” on Black Friday, they should try their best not to buy whatever is in arm’s reach just “to get something.” Chances are that something is not discounted and will be cheaper later on in the holiday season.

Don’t Buy Cables for Your New Electronic Device

This was item #2 on last year’s Top 5 Worst Deals of Black Friday 2011 article.

The margins on consumer electronics are usually thin (and that is not including the loss-leader items). Where big-box retailers make a good deal of their profits from these purchases are the accessories: installation plans, warranties and cables. Installation plans and warranties need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; cables are almost always a terrible buy. A Dynex 6-ft. HDMI cable is currently $19.99 at Best Buy, a similar 6-ft. HDMI cable is only $3.50 at Monoprice.com – one of many sites that specializes in cable).

The caveat is that no one wants to buy an HDTV and have to wait for their cables to be shipped. That’s why BFAds recommends buying the cables early in the month, that way they’ll be waiting at home once your Black Friday shopping is done.

Shop with a Partner

No one wants to go into battle alone. If one plans on shopping in-stores this year, bring a shopping buddy. Not only will they help keep you sane while waiting in line, they’ll be incredibly useful once the doors open. Whether your strategy is to divide-and-conquer, positioning someone in the middle of the store with a cart while another runs around the store swiping up items or even if you don’t have a strategy, all should be much more successful with another person on your team. Also, two cars mean double thespace to fit all the cool new things you bought.