For Retailers, Black Friday Plans In Full Swing

Black Friday is still about two weeks away, but retailers aren’t waiting until Nov. 25 to start the annual deals amid an increasingly competitive retail environment. In fact, Wal-Mart Stores already has deals in place, though they’re just for consumers on the Wal-Mart app currently, reports Business Insider. According to the company, all Wal-Mart’s Black Friday deals begin online at 12:01 a.m. Thanksgiving Day. Industry rival Target Corp. is staying competitive this holiday season, set to open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, reports Fortune. This is the third consecutive year how the retailer will begin the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart will be open all day on Thanksgiving, with its Black Friday event that day slated for 6 p.m. local time in stores. Target enjoyed a bolstered holiday season quarter in 2015, though its second-quarter fiscal 2016 hit a snag with a 1.1 percent same-store sales dip. Wal-Mart’s, for comparison, ticked up 1.8 percent. To better compete with Wal-Mart, the company is going to further emphasize lower prices in the Christmas season – i.e. 60 percent of its marketing compared to last year’s 40 percent. Read more at U.S. News & World Report.