MINNEAPOLIS — We're just one day into November and the Black Friday deals have already started.
Target announced plans to release deals every day in November and Walmart says their Black Friday deals will start on Nov. 8.
University of Minnesota marketing professor George John says starting early isn't the only strategy retailers are using this year.
“It’s incredibly competitive,” John says. “A lot of these retailers have an online piece and an offline piece and they’re trying to make those complimentary this holiday shopping season.”
At Best Buy, representatives announced plans to livestream shopping this year.
The company says its first livestreaming event is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7:00 p.m. They added the retailer with also open more “experience” stores, including one in Richfield.
Professor John says he recently visited one of these stores in Austin, Texas.
"There was nothing different about it from the outside, but the moment you walk in, you can see it's different. You don't see aisles and aisles of merchandise. All you see is displays, stations where you can actually see a lot of stuff,” John says.
Best Buy says these stores will offer hands-on experiences where customers can test out higher-ticket items, like e-bikes, exercise equipment and appliances.
Professor John says these “experience” stores are part of a new trend with brick-and-mortar retailers who are trying to separate themselves from Amazon by using their retail space to create customer experiences and then processing the transaction online and shipping it to their home.
“Retailers are looking at their strengths and advantages and for some of these retailers their advantage is their physical store and they’re coming up with new ways to use that space in a way that’s complimentary with their online presence,” John says.
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