Luckily, analysts over at personal finance website WalletHub did some of the work for shoppers as they prepare for the hectic post-Thanksgiving holiday.
After surveying nearly 7,000 deals from 35 of the biggest United States retailers’ Black Friday ad scans, WalletHub researchers identified the stores offering the biggest discounts based on the pre-discounted price of a given item. The list excludes deals without calculable percentage markdowns.
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Analysts also organized the deals into 11 product groups, including apparel/accessories, consumer electronics, appliances, jewelry and toys.
Of the 35 retailers examined, Belk ranked first in the best places to shop on Black Friday list, offering an average discount of 68.9 percent, up from 62.8 percent last year.
JCPenney came in second, with average discounts at 65.1 percent.
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Here are the 10 best places to shop on Black Friday, according to WalletHub:
- Belk (68.9 percent discount)
- JCPenney (65.1 percent)
- Stage (62.1 percent)
- Kohl's (60.8 percent)
- New York & Company (54.5 percent)
- Payless ShoeSource (50.3 percent)
- Dick's Sporting Goods (49.9 percent)
- Macy's (48.7 percent)
- Fred Meyer (45.3 percent)
- Shopko (45.2 percent)
And the top three retailers for each category:
Apparel and accessories
Computers and phones
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Consumer electronics
Consumer packaged goods
Toys
Appliances
Furniture
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Jewelry
Books, movies and music
Video games software
Other product categories
According to WalletHub, the majority of discounts are concentrated in apparel and accessories, followed by computers and phones. Jewelry will be the hot-discount product this Black Friday.
More about the ranking and its methodology at WalletHub.com.
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