WASHINGTON (SBG) - As inflation affects people’s wallets this holiday shopping season, stores are expecting a busy weekend. So what sales should you be keeping an eye out for this year?
“What I'm excited about this year around the Black Friday, Cyber Monday timeframe are tech items like smartphones and TVs, also small home appliances, smart apparel and footwear, and then also beauty products,” said shopping expert Trae Bodge to The National Desk’s Eugene Ramirez. “If you wanted to try a buzzy home appliance like an air fryer, or a robotic vacuum like a Roomba, Amazon, in particular, is offering very deep discounts.”
Bodge says if you’ve been looking to purchase Apple AirPods, Amazon is having “huge sales” around phone accessories.
“I actually just saved $100 off a pair of Pros the other day, so those sales are very, very big if you are looking for those items right now,” said Bodge.
With deals offered at stores and websites all year round, are the deals around Black Friday actually cheaper than other sales?
“According to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday and Cyber Monday timeframe is really the best time,” said Bodge. “There are certain items that will be more deeply discounted, hopefully, in December, such as winter apparel, holiday-themed items, and then I would also say some toys.”
Bodge says she uses Smarty, a subscription service that tracks prices, to help her get refunds when prices drop.
“I’m a huge fan of deal sites in general,” said Bodge. “There's a coupon site called Coupon Cabin, they are offering five times cashback from select retailers every day. So they're cycling through, there are 20 retailers every day, so that is a great opportunity to save cashback.”
If you’re looking for a deal on something specific and having a hard time finding one, Bodge says she uses a platform called Slick Deals.
“You can set a Deal Alert for that item and you'll be alerted when it goes on sale. That also means that it's in stock. They also have a community of deal seekers and a message board,” said Bodge.
If you can wait, Bodge says there are deal opportunities coming up in December.
“There's Green Monday on December 13. There is free shipping Day on December 14. That's typically when retailers will promise on-time shipping for the holidays,” said Bodge. “Then the last kind of final gasp of the holiday shopping season is Super Saturday which is December 18.”
But with supply chain issues and shipping times already posing issues, Bodge says it might be a good idea to order online and choose curbside pickup.
“If your child is asking for a toy that's popped up on all the hot toy lists, or there's a pair of shoes that are trending on Tik Tok that your teen or tween is asking for, those are the things that I think that might be problematic,” said Bodge. “Consumers should shop earlier and take advantage of the great sales that you're seeing right now, so you won't have to worry about those stock issues.”
The National Retail Federation is predicting the largest holiday shopping season ever, with a jump between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020 - but consumers are also spending more with a consumer price index up 6.2% over last year.
“It's more important than ever that we take a moment and check out some of those deals sites that I mentioned,” said Bodge. “We're going to have to kind of get creative right now.”