Big box retailers and e-commerce sites are gearing up for the many shoppers who plan to skip out early on Thanksgiving dinner to cross off items on their holiday shopping lists. In an effort to rack up sales before Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, retailers will try to lure consumers with exclusive in-store doorbuster deals on Turkey Day. According to the National Retail Federation, holiday shoppers are expected to spend $630.5 billion during November and December, up 3.7% from 2014.
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We asked several shopping experts -- BFAds.net's David Varble, DealNews.com's Benjamin K. Glaser, NerdWallet.com's Katrina Chan, and RetailMeNot.com's Trae Bodge -- to give us the lowdown on which Thanksgiving Day doorbuster deals are worth braving the in-store crowds or stalking your favorite online shop. Keep in mind that most of these deeply discounted doorbusters will be available in limited quantities starting Thursday, November 26. Also, they usually must be purchased in-store -- unless noted otherwise -- but it never hurts to check online prices and availability before you venture out.
Electronics
Amazon Fire Tablet 7-Inch Display with Wi-Fi (8GB), $35, available at Amazon.com: Bodge points out that the latest version of Amazon's popular Fire tablet will be on sale Thanksgiving Day at a $15 discount (regular price: $50). Customers who purchase the tablet will get access to Amazon Underground, an app store with games (including free game add-ons, such as extra lives and unlocked levels), 38 million movies, TV shows, songs and books. See more of Amazon's holiday shopping deals.
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Element 50-Inch LED HDTV With 1080p Resolution, $240, available at Target: One of the best deals on electronics you'll find on Thanksgiving Day is on larger TVs of varying sizes and brands, Glaser suggests. Starting at 6 p.m., Target shoppers can pick up this off-brand television set for $200 less than the regular price. "This 50-inch TV is currently the lowest price we've seen on a 1080p television of that size, beating out a similar set advertised at Walmart," he adds. See a preview of Target's Thanksgiving holiday weekend sale.
Fitbit Flex Wristband, $59, available at Walmart.com: Walmart has switched up its approach to holiday "doorbuster" deals by practically doing away with them altogether. The majority of their Thanksgiving weekend deals will be available online starting at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on November 26. One of their noteworthy offers, Chan mentions, is on the Fitbit Flex wristband. It's regularly priced at $99, but will be discounted 40%. See more of Walmart's Thanksgiving Day shopping deals.
Panasonic Streaming Wi-Fi Built-In Blu-ray Player, $40, available at Best Buy: Shoppers will find a host of deals on electronics at Best Buy, which opens its doors at 5 p.m on Thanksgiving Day. This blu-ray player is normally $100, so the doorbuster price is 60% off. It comes with a one-year limited warranty. See more of Best Buy's holiday doorbuster deals.
Samsung 120W 2.1 Channel 37-Inch Bluetooth Soundbar with Subwoofer, $88, available at Target: Regularly priced at $180, you’ll get to keep $92 in your wallet by venturing to Target to score this home sound system, Chan says. It has Bluetooth capability, which means you can wirelessly connect it to your smart phone to stream music or other audio.
Toshiba 49-Inch LED HDTV With 1080p Resolution, $150, available at Best Buy: Faithful holiday shoppers know they can count on Best Buy for deals on television sets that aren't available anywhere else, Varble says. This year, the electronics retailer will have this brand name model on sale marked down 65%. The regular price is $430. It comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Kitchen and Home
Keurig Elite Single Serve Brewer, $90, available at Kohl's: If you're looking to stock up on kitchen appliances, such as blenders and coffee makers, Kohl's will have some of the best deals, Varble adds. We found this Keurig coffee and tea brewer (regular price: $150) that will be available for 60% off starting at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. See more of Kohl's holiday doorbuster deals.
KitchenAid Classic Plus 4.5-Quart Stand Mixer, $200, available at Macy’s: This electric mixer is regularly priced at $350, but will be marked down more than 40% starting at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. This deal can’t be combined with other Macy's doorbuster deals. Also, Macy's card/savings pass discounts don't apply to doorbuster items.
Toys
LEGO sets, starting at $55, available at Target: For parents looking to stock up on hot-ticket toys for their kids, you can find some of the best deals on items such as LEGO building block sets at big box retailers. In fact, "[You'll] see huge discounts on LEGOs with a savings of as much as 60% off . . . and are best-of-the-year prices," Glaser says. At Target, for example, LEGO's Creator, Movie and City building sets will be on sale for $55 (regularly priced between $80 and $90).
Carrera RC Remote Control Video Streaming Drone, $60, available at Toys 'R' Us: You'll typically find better deals on toys the closer it gets to Christmas, but you also run the risk of a highly coveted item selling out if you wait too long. If you must purchase toy items on Thanksgiving Day, Toys 'R' Us has a slew of noteworthy doorbuster deals starting at 5 p.m., Chan says. TheToyInsider.com's 2015 hot holiday toy guide includes a toy video drone by Skyrocket that retails for $90. We found that Toys ‘R’ Us will have a similar toy drone model by Carrera RC for sale on Thanksgiving Day at 50% off (it's regularly priced at $120). Also, you can get early access to over 100 holiday toy deals at Toys 'R' Us by joining their Rewards 'R' Us program.
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