Black Friday is finally here! And while discounts and sales started rolling out early this month, some even as early as October, it's still not too late to check out those carts. In fact, today might just be the best time to do it!

From toys to clothes, gadgets to home decor, you can get almost everything under the sun at a discount. No wonder 196.7 million consumers shopped over the five-day holiday shopping period last year -- 122.7 million shopped in-store, up 17% from the prior year.

But do Black Friday sales still offer the biggest discounts?

Looks like it! Several researches in the U.S. show that Black Friday still offers some of the best discounts all year round.

Based on numbers from Adobe's 2023 Holiday Shopping Trends, discounts hit an average of 25% on Nov. 20 for electronics, toys and apparel.

A survey by Wallethub also showed that two-thirds of items on Amazon were cheaper during Black Friday.

As for when discounts are at their biggest and prices at their lowest, data from Statista shows that price tags drop as Black Friday approaches.

Average prices of electronics dropped by 5% between Oct.1 and Oct. 10. By Nov. 20, discounts of up to 24% were being offered, with an average of 30% deductions this year.

Toys were 1.7% cheaper on average on Oct. 10, 9% by Nov. 10 and 23.8% by Nov. 20. Discounts will peak at 35% this year, compared to 34% in 2022.

Statista's data also showed that apparel saw an average discount of 20.8% on Nov. 20, peaking at 25% this Black Friday.

Black Friday Discounts
This chart shows the average price change in different product categories compared to Oct. 1, 2023 prices in the U.S. (in percent). Statista

Adobe's data echoes the same findings -- discounts would peak at 25 to 35% between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Notably, in six of the eight Adobe tracks, only toys and electronics saw fewer discounts in October compared to last year. Furniture, sporting Goods, TV, computers, appliances and apparel also had cheaper price tags versus 2022 and 2021.

Wallethub's survey also shows that 1 in 5 people will apply for a new credit card to help with holiday shopping. However, 28% said they'd spend less this year than they did last year.

Nonetheless, $63.2 billion has already been spent by U.S. shoppers from Nov. 1 and Nov. 20 and will definitely increase as Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick-off.

Tags
Black friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, Black friday deals