Target kicks off Black Friday on Halloween
Target is continuing its efforts to attract early holiday shoppers with a weeklong Black Friday event starting Sunday, Oct. 31.
The discount giant will launch its “Holiday Best” deals promotion, which it is presenting as the kickoff to Black Friday savings, on Halloween. Target is pledging that any item advertised as “Holiday Best” in-store or online features its best-planned price of the season.
Every Sunday, starting Oct. 31, Target will unveil new weeklong Holiday Best deals, available to shop in stores, online and via the retailer's same-day omnichannel services like order pickup and drive up. The promotion will include discounts on hundreds of popular products across categories including electronics, toys, kitchen appliances, floorcare, apparel, and beauty and more.
Target will also release surprise one-day Holiday Best offers throughout the season A preview of some of the items included the first week of discounts, offered Oct. 31-Nov. 6, is available here. Updates on Holiday Best deals will be available throughout the season via the Target e-commerce site and mobile app.
If a Holiday Best deal price does happen to go lower later in the season, Target's enhanced holiday price match guarantee allows customers to price match items at Target through Dec. 24. Additionally, Target will continue to match select competitors' pricing within 14 days of purchase.
Target has already been actively engaging holiday shoppers with targeted discounts. The retailer ran the second edition of Target’s “Deal Days” sale Oct. 10-12. In addition to marking the launch of its seasonal price match guarantee, Deal Days offered special discounts via the Target website and mobile app. For the first time, Deal Days also provided deals at all Target stores. Deal Days featured thousands of limited-time discounts across its entire assortment, including TVs, video games, kitchen appliances, vacuums, seasonal outfits, and holiday food and drinks.
In addition, Target recently introduced two new “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) flexible payment options, timed to be available for holiday shoppers. The company teamed up with BNPL platform providers Sezzle and Affirm to offer digital flexible payment options that let customers take home their purchases right away. Depending on what they want to buy and how long they would like to spread their payments out, Sezzle and Affirm offer Target shoppers a range of BNPL options, timelines and services based on customer eligibility.
A number of other major retailers are also starting their holiday promotions earlier than normal this year. Examples include Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and Sam’s Club.
"We know many of our customers are looking to shop early this season, and that value is incredibly important to them, especially during this time of year," said Christina Hennington, executive VP and chief growth officer, Target. "That's why we're introducing our week-long Holiday Best deals, giving guests confidence they're getting great value, and making the deals available online and in stores so guests can shop however is most convenient for them."
Minneapolis-based Target Corp. operates more than 1,900 stores and an e-commerce site.