Thanksgiving overshadows Black Friday for best deals

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Thanksgiving could be the best day to shop all year.

An analysis of sales data and store circulars by two research firms contradicts conventional wisdom that Black Friday is when shoppers can get the most and biggest sales of the year.

Turns out, shoppers will find more discounted items in stores that are open on Thanksgiving. For example, there are a total of 86 laptops and tablets deeply discounted as door buster deals at Best Buy, Walmart and others on the holiday compared with just nine on Black Friday, according to an analysis of promotions for The Associated Press by researcher MarketTrack.

And on the Web, discounts will be deeper on the holiday. Online prices on Thanksgiving are expected to be about 24 percent cheaper compared with 23 percent on Black Friday and 20 percent on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe, which tracks data on 4,500 retail web sites.

The data are the latest proof that retailers slowly are redefining the Black Friday tradition. It’s been the biggest shopping day of the year for years, mostly because it’s traditionally when retailers pull out their best sales events. But in the past few years, retailers such as the Gap, Target and Toys “R” Us have started opening their stores and offering holiday discounts on Thanksgiving to better compete with online rivals.

But some industry watchers fear some won’t shop on Thanksgiving, choosing to keep the day sacred. Those who wait instead to shop on Black Friday could wind up being disappointed with the leftover deals, they say.

In fact, according to Deloitte Research’s recent survey of shoppers, about two-thirds say they’re not motivated to go out to stores Thanksgiving because it’s important to be with family and friends.