As one of the biggest sales on the calendar, Black Friday offers some of the best deals we’ll see all year on tech, home appliances, fashion and so much more. While we’re still a few months away from the fall savings event right now, it’s well worth planning ahead to ensure you can make the most of the Black Friday deals when the sales roll around.
Below, we’ll go through everything you need to know ahead of Black Friday 2022 including this year’s Black Friday date, which retailers will have Black Friday sales, and how you can best prepare for Black Friday sales.
When is Black Friday 2022?
Black Friday officially takes place the day after Thanksgiving each year meaning that this year’s Black Friday date is Nov. 25, 2022. It kicks off a weekendlong sales event that culminates in Cyber Monday on Nov. 28.
Despite the official Black Friday date being the last Friday in November each year, retailers have begun kicking off early Black Friday sales in advance meaning that the event often takes over most of November (and even the latter half of October). Rumors of a second Prime Day sale slated for the fall, and the fact that Amazon hosted its pandemic-delayed Prime Day 2020 in the month of October, has a lot of folks wondering if we’ll enjoy another double dose of fall savings this year split across two months.
Which stores are having Black Friday sales?
All of the major retailers — both online retailers and those with brick and mortar stores — will hold Black Friday 2022 sales. That includes the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart as well as more niche retailers like B&H Photo, GameStop, and Dell.
As we get closer to the Black Friday 2022 date, we’ll start to learn more about which retailers will be participating in the event and the new can expect to start seeing Black Friday deals.
When do Black Friday deals start?
As mentioned above, the official Black Friday 2022 date is Nov. 25, 2022. For a lot of doorbuster deals and super limited-time offers, these will go live on this date and run through the weekend.
We’ll get more precise times for specific sales, deals and retailers nearer the event but it’s likely that many sales will go live online before stores open on Black Friday itself if previous years are any indication. Early Black Friday sales also kick off weeks prior to the actual Black Friday date too which means many of the best Black Friday deals will be available from early November.
When do Black Friday deals end?
While we can’t predict exactly how Black Friday 2022 will go, previous years show us that Black Friday sales tend to span the final weekend in November and culminate in Cyber Monday sales on the following Monday. The best limited-time sales will likely begin to dry up as Cyber Monday sales wrap up, though retailers have been known to extend some sales into December to capitalize on the holiday gift buying season.
What time do retailers open on Black Friday?
Some retailers like to kick off their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving itself, though a trend in recent years has seen retailers keep their physical doors closed on the holiday so staff can enjoy time with their families, instead kicking off online sales that day. Black Friday 2021 saw some retailers open earlier than usual for the particularly dedicated shoppers on Black Friday itself, such as Walmart which opened at 5 a.m. on the first day of its sale event.
Are Black Friday deals available online?
Yes, Black Friday deals are available online. In fact, recent years have seen retailers with physical stores kicking off online sales earlier than those same deals in store giving online shoppers the jump.
Some Black Friday deals are only available in store, though these days those tend to be specific doorbuster deals that are available in extremely limited quantities. Unless you really like to line up outside your nearest big box store in the early hours of the morning, you’d be better served shopping online.
Best Black Friday deals of 2021
While we can’t predict exactly what deals we’ll see for Black Friday 2022, we can use previous years as an indicator of what types of products will go on sale and see the biggest discounts. Below we’ve listed some of the best promotions from last year’s sale and we’ll be sure to update this page when we start to see Black Friday 2022 deals cropping up.
Why is it called Black Friday?
Throughout history the term “black” has been used to denote distressing or calamitous events. The earliest known use of Black Friday for the Friday after Thanksgiving was to refer to the practice of workers calling out sick the day after Thanksgiving in the early 1950s. Around that same time, US police adopted the term to describe the traffic conditions during during the first major holiday shopping date. After attempts to move to the term Big Friday failed, merchants attempted to ameliorate the term Black Friday in subsequent years, suggesting that its origin was not due to poor traffic conditions the shopping day created but because the profit it generated put stores “back in the black” in financial terms.
How do I prepare for Black Friday?
At this point in the year, there’s not much preparation you can do as we all await official word on Black Friday sales from the major retailers.
Once we get some sale specifics, you’ll be able to plan your shopping accordingly. Regardless, it’s worth considering what products you hope to pick up during Black Friday and start putting some money aside each month now. It’s never too early to start budgeting for these things.
The CNET Deals team will keep you up to date on all of the best deals between now and Black Friday so be sure to follow the team on Twitter and sign up for CNET Deals text alerts to have the every best deals delivered directly to you.
