The Black Friday shopping sale will take place a little earlier this year as Amazon and other major retailers offer great deals and huge discounts ahead of the scheduled Black Friday on November 26.
Since 2005, Black Friday has become one of the most active days for retailers in the United States. The spike of shopping activity during Black Friday sales has been attributed mainly to consumers having a “four-day weekend”.
Reasons Behind Early Black Friday Deals
With Thanksgiving on Thursday and Black Friday the following day, plus the additional weekends, consumers have ample time to stroll and shop in their favorite outlet malls and retail stores.
In order to minimize human traffic during the Black Friday sales, major retailers decided to drop their doorbuster deals as early as October. Aside from decongesting in-store traffic during Black Friday, this early unveiling of deals and discounts also aims to taper down shopping activities for the remaining holidays. This will help minimize the impact of supply chain, logistics, warehouse, and staffing issues during the holidays.
Early Amazon Black Friday Deals
Amazon Deals – What Awaits Shoppers?
The advance Amazon Black Friday deals started earlier this month, with the launching of “Epic Daily Deals.” Amazon intends to offer Black Friday-worthy discounts on various categories.
Amazon’s early Black Friday discounts start from 10%, up to more than 70% on selected items. Items showcased come from more than 50 categories and subcategories combined, including Electronics, Fashion, Books, Home Improvement, Major Appliances, Software, and so much more.
As a precursor to Amazon Black Friday, Epic Daily Deals is participated by major brands. You can buy products from top brands such as Samsung, Sony, Tommy Hilfiger, Bosch, Toshiba, Levoit, Netgear, and other iconic consumer brands.
Amazon Prime members in the United States can take advantage of these deals via Amazon.com or the recently updated Amazon Mobile Shopping app. Using the app, you get to enjoy the new app feature that lets you send gifts to someone even without a physical address. This app feature makes it more convenient to send, receive, and even exchange presents for a gift card simply by using either the recipient’s phone number or email address.
Amazon Deals – How Can Sellers Participate?
Amazon’s early Black Friday event is a great avenue to increase engagement and generate more revenue. The early Black Friday, the Black Friday sales, and the remaining holidays can help you close the year with significant profit.
It is not too late for you to participate in these early Amazon Deals and other event deals for the remaining days of the year. To participate, you need to first ensure your Amazon seller eligibility.
If you are a Professional Seller with an overall rating of at least 3.5-stars and at least 5 Seller Feedback Ratings per month, you can participate in Amazon Deals.
You also need to secure product eligibility. Your inventory item must meet certain criteria to be an eligible ASIN. Important considerations for product eligibility include the following:
- product variations
- product restrictions
- product appropriateness
- product condition
- product compliance with pricing, a valid reference price
- product compliance with product reviews policies
- product compliance with deal frequency policies
To create deals for events, log in to your Seller Central account and look for Deals under the Advertising tab in the Amazon Dashboard. To submit a deal for event consideration, you can follow these steps:
Amazon Seller University: A screenshot (cropped) on How to Create Deals on Amazon, ; Retrieved Date: Oct. 20, 2021 from https://youtu.be/balRKseFEvM
Step 1: Once redirected to the Deals dashboard, click Create a new deal.
Step 2: Choose a product in your inventory and click Select.
Step 3: For event deals, check for Upcoming Events.
Step 4: Select the event you wish to participate in.
Step 5: Click Continue for the next step.
Step 6: Click Submit Deal.
For newbie sellers navigating through, the Amazon Dashboard can be confusing. To help you create other Amazon Deals, here is a detailed video presentation for your guidance.
Worth noting that not all submitted products for Amazon Deals will be automatically considered to run on Amazon event deals. Amazon will still review the deals after submission.
Other Retailers’ Early Black Friday Deals
It is not just Amazon that started offering early Black Friday sales to consumers. Other reputable retailers likewise joined the discount and deals bonanza for Q4 2021.
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Walmart
Just this October 17, Walmart also began offering Black Friday-worthy discounts on various categories. Walmart’s early Black Friday sales will run until November 26. The first wave of discounts leading to Black Friday will start on November 3 (in-store Nov. 5), followed by the next wave of deals on November 10 (in-store Nov. 12).
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Best Buy
Best Buy is another retailer kicking off their early Black Friday deals from October 19 to October 22. Ahead of the actual Black Friday event, shoppers can get huge deals for tech products, including these hottest deals:
- Samsung 70-inch 4K Smart TV – for $599
- Beats Studio 3 headphones – for $169
- Windows laptops – as low as $189.99
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Target
Target already had their early Black Friday deals with their “Target Deal Days.” For three days, October 10-12, Target offered discounts on their brands and other commercial brands.
Deals and Pricing
If you wish to close the year with a bang, start participating in Amazon Deals and event sales if you have not participated yet. It would also help to feature in one of Amazon’s Gift Guides or sponsored ads.
And of course, it goes without saying that implementing an effective pricing strategy with the help of a repricing software for the rest of your listings will likewise aid in improving your sales this year.
