Shopping Tips For Walmart on Black Friday
When it comes to Black Friday, Walmart is definitely the most popular national store to shop at. It’s easy to see why, too. Walmart Black Friday shopping offers deals on electronics, toys, clothing and much more!
The only downside to Black Friday at Walmart is the fact that hundreds (possibly thousands) of other people will be doing the same thing at your Walmart store. This can make navigating the deals and getting everything you want a little bit tricky. The good thing is, there are some easy Walmart Black Friday shopping tips you can learn ahead of time to make the experience smoother.
1. Make your shopping list.
It’s really important to go into the store with an organized list of items you want to purchase. This will allow you to stay on-task and get what you’re actually there for. Go here to preview Black Friday Ads and Deals. I like to organize my list according to where items are in the store, which makes mapping my walk much easier. Which leads me to #2….
2. Map your store.
Before Black Friday, go into the Walmart store you plan to shop in and ask the management for a map of the store. With that map, you can easily plan out a route around the store that takes you to every department you wish to go to in the most expedient manner necessary.
Pro tip: rather than making a route that starts at the door and ends at the register, create a route that starts at the item you want the most, working down in order of importance and most direct route from there.
3. Plan to get there early.
Getting to Walmart early for Black Friday shopping is becoming increasingly difficult because of the fact that Black “Friday” is now more like Black “Thursday Evening.” In fact, they opened doors at 6pm Thanksgiving evening in 2015!
Many people like to (understandably) spend time with their family on the holiday, but if you can adjust your Thanksgiving plans, you’ll still be able to shop and get in great family time. Move your Thanksgiving “dinner” to noon or 1pm rather than 3pm or 4pm, enlist your spouse to help clean up afterwards, go shopping with some cousins that evening, etc. There are plenty of ways to incorporate family time AND great deals!
And it’s really important to get there early, as well. Many times, hot ticket items are only available to the first X amount of people that are in line. In addition to this, Walmart starts giving out special wristbands that allow customers to purchase the most popular and sought-after deals at 5pm that evening, or one hour before the stock opens. Without that wristband, you can’t purchase the items. You WANT to be one of the first people in line so you can get in on tip #4…
4. Take Advantage of the One Hour In-Stock Guarantee
Walmart has revolutionized Black Friday shopping with a pretty great new shopping feature: the One Hour Guarantee. Walmart’s One Hour In-Stock Guarantee means that for the first hour that they are open for Black Friday shopping, select items are guaranteed available for purchase. But, as with most offers, there is some small print involved.
So, let’s break down how the One Hour Guarantee works:
- There is a limit of ONE One Hour Guarantee item per person.
- You must be in line by 5pm in order to qualify to get the item at the advertised Black Friday price.
- You must purchase the item before 7pm.
- If the item does sell out, you will be given a special One Hour Guarantee card. This card will be scanned at checkout. You’ll hand the card to your cashier, she’ll scan it, you’ll pay for the item, then be given a receipt with a unique access code on it.
- If given a receipt with an access code, follow the instructions included on it to register your access code online within 48 hours and select the store you want your item shipped to.
- Your item will be guaranteed available for pickup before Christmas.
5. Comfy Clothes = Happy Shopper
My family has this great tradition where we exchange our first Christmas presents right after Thanksgiving. They’re always fuzzy pajamas, and we always wear them when doing our Black Friday shopping together. It’s not only a fun tradition, but it’s also a great way to stay comfortable and warm during shopping. Paired with a supportive pair of tennis shoes, we make look completely silly but we definitely won’t be uncomfortable!
6. Pack Snacks (Trust Me!)
You’ve stuffed your face at Thanksgiving dinner and don’t think you’ll *ever* be hungry again, right? I mean, what else is there to do on Thanksgiving? 😉 Even though you feel like you’re about to burst, make sure you spend five minutes to pack yourself a small snack before leaving for your shopping adventures. Most people choose to shop at multiple stores for several hours starting Thanksgiving evening and going into the night. That turkey and pumpkin pie may fill you up at 2 pm, but if 10 pm rolls around and you’re still not at home, you’ll be grateful for a little pick-me-up.
7. Have fun!
I know this seems like a silly tip, but I wanted to close with this final Walmart Black Friday shopping tip to remind everyone that Black Friday shopping should be hectic, busy, a little bit of crazy and a whole lot of fun. Remember that even if you miss a deal or mess up a transaction, it’s not going to ruin your holiday. You still have loved ones, food on the table and the fun experience of what Black Friday shopping is.
