It's still a few weeks away from the annual Black Friday sales frenzy, but this year we've already seen a fair amount of promotional activity prior to the three-day event itself. And given the lackluster TV sales so far this year, we expect the promotional activity to continue, and perhaps increase, right through the holiday buying season. We've already seen several major retailers—including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart—offer special "weekend" TV deals; some, including Amazon with its "Countdown to Black Friday" Gold Box promotions and Walmart's "Value of the Day," are holding special daily deals leading up to Thanksgiving. Many of these promotions either are, or will be, supplemented by even shorter "flash" or "lightning" deals, which typically last only an hour or so. And many retailers are already offering special online-only sales, with free shipping to the nearest store, or in some cases, free shipping to your home. In the event that the pre-Black Friday specials aren't enough to entice you to shop early, several of the major chains have announced they'll be opening their doors earlier than ever on Black Friday—some, including Best Buy and Target, at midnight, so that so-called "doorbuster specials" will begin at that hour rather than the more customary 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. Friday morning. And for those who can't get out until later, many retailers have announced extended store hours for Black Friday shoppers. Of course, while all this promotional activity can create excitement, the real question for those actually looking to buy a TV this year is how low will TV prices go this Black Friday weekend? Based on what we』ve already seen, both from early sales and some leaked Black Friday circulars, (including Walmart's) there should be some great deals this year. So here is what we expect to see during the Black Friday weekend: |