Walmart’s Black Friday initiative doesn’t shy away from the fact that in-person shopping will be difficult this year. In fact, the Walmart Black Friday Deals for Days program embraces the fact that most people will be buying goods online, whenever they want, instead of lining up to swarm a store on one particular day. Walmart Black Friday deals will kick off on November 4 and run all the way until the end of the month, with different goods on sale every week. This is further proof that Black Friday 2020 will be completely different than previous years.
Information comes from a Walmart press release, which explains the Black Friday Deals for Days roadmap. The initiative comprises three “events,” each of which starts on a different day and focuses on different types of deals. While each event will feature some tech deals, it seems like most electronics bargains will occur during Event 2, which begins online on November 11, and in-store on November 14.
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Walmart promises that Event 2 will “offer techies great deals on electronics, like TVs, computers, and tablets.” The first wave of these deals will hit on November 11 at 7 PM ET, while the second will arrive on November 14 at 12 AM ET. All in-store deals for Event 2 will start on November 14, whenever the store in question opens.
Event 2 will also include the “biggest wireless phone event” that Walmart has ever hosted, with “amazing deals on iPhones and Samsung phones.” These sales should occur with the second wave of Event 2 deals, described above, but the company hasn’t offered any additional details yet.
Event 1 and Event 3 don’t seem to be as focused on tech, but each one will offer at least a few electronics deals as well. In fact, the only tech bargain we know specifically will occur during Event 1: an Onn 42-inch UHD Roku TV for $88. This device usually retails for $178 (and, to be clear, is not very good).
Here are the relevant details for each event:
| Start Time (Online) | Start Time (In-Store) | Product Focus | |
| Event 1 | November 4, 7 PM ET | November 7, 5 AM local time | Toys, electronics, home products |
| Event 2 | November 11, 7 PM ET | November 14, 5 AM local time | TVs, computers, tablets, smartphones, movies, music |
| Event 3 | November 25, 7 PM ET | November 27, 5 AM local time | Electronics, toys, apparel, home goods, seasonal |
Walmart also describes the measures it will take to ensure customer safety for those who shop in-store, including single-file outdoor lines, sanitized shopping carts and employees who will help customers with masking and social distancing. However, anyone who’s ever seen a video of Walmart shoppers on Black Friday morning can already guess how difficult this will be to enforce.
The bottom line is that Walmart’s Black Friday sales will be spread out across an entire month rather than crammed into a single day. We won’t know whether the deals are worthwhile until we know what the company is selling, so it’s worth keeping an eye out. On the other hand, if buying local is an option for you, it’s probably a better idea.