When do Black Friday sales start? Be on the lookout for early holiday deals.

Amazon's massive Prime Day events generate consistent hype, but Black Friday remains the biggest shopping holiday of the year by far.

Black Friday always takes place on the fourth Friday in November (and the day after Thanksgiving), which happens to fall abnormally late in the month this year. For consumers, that means two things: There's a shorter-than-usual window for last-minute Christmas shopping, but more-than-usual leeway for scoping out Black Friday deals in advance. Plan accordingly.

I'm a Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable, and I've been covering Black Friday sales since 2019. Here's what I think you need to know about them in advance and what you can expect to see from major retailers.

When is Black Friday 2024?

With Thanksgiving slated for Thursday, Nov. 28, Black Friday is happening on Friday, Nov. 29 this year.

That being said, most retailers begin rolling out "early Black Friday deals" well ahead of time (days, if not weeks in advance). Some draw things out even longer with Black Friday discounts that bleed into the following weekend. In practice, Black Friday is not restricted to a rigid 24-hour timeframe.

The same goes for Cyber Monday, a similar but more online-centric shopping holiday that happens the same weekend. (It's scheduled for Monday, Dec. 2 in 2024.) Most retailers will shift into Cyber Monday mode by the Sunday after Black Friday, if not earlier. The entire weekend's festivities are typically referred to as "Cyber Weekend."

None of the major retailers have confirmed their official plans for these sales just yet, but I can make some educated guesses about them based on prior years' happenings.

Black Friday at Amazon

Amazon formally began its 2024 holiday shopping season with Prime Big Deal Days, a 48-hour sale for Prime members on Oct. 8 and 9. (You may have seen it referred to as "October Prime Day," a riff on Amazon's flagship Prime Day sale in July.) The only sale that's currently on the retail giant's calendar is its fourth annual Holiday Beauty Haul from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3. However, an Amazon blog post notes that "[more] exciting deal events are planned ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday."

Amazon's Black Friday sale started a week early in 2023, ushering in "some of the lowest prices of the year so far." New discounts dropped as often as every five minutes during certain periods of the event, and a special selection of deals was timed with the inaugural Black Friday NFL game (aired for free on Prime Video). Many of Amazon's Black Friday deals then lingered into its Cyber Monday sale, which also got an early launch that Saturday.

Amazon said last year's extended Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale was its "biggest ever compared to the same 11-day period ending on Cyber Monday in previous years," so I wouldn't be surprised if it used the exact same formatting for Black Friday 2024. Expect its announcement to arrive sometime in early November: In 2023, it dropped on Nov. 5.

Black Friday at Walmart

Walmart hosted a Holiday Deals event from Oct. 8 through Oct. 13, which opened online with 12 hours of early access for paid Walmart+ members and continued in stores on Oct. 9. (This marked the earliest-ever start to its year-end shopping season.) Its schedule is currently wide open, but a press release called that sale Walmart's "first Holiday Deals event of the season" — emphasis mine — and teased "more incredible deals events to come, including its can’t-miss Black Friday and Cyber Monday events." This would track with Walmart's past holiday programming, which typically involves multiple sales staggered throughout November.

In 2023, Walmart scattered its "best savings of the season" across two Black Friday Deals events in early and late November; the second one directly overlapped with Black Friday proper. These sales kicked off online with a three-hour head start for Walmart+ members before opening to the public, and they went live in stores two days after the fact. They then culminated in a one-day, online-only Cyber Monday sale that also featured early access for the Walmart+ crew.

An early November announcement detailing Walmart's 2024 plans is quite likely: Last year, it popped up on Nov. 1.

Walmart Black Friday hours

For shoppers who want to check out those deals in person, Walmart stores are usually open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time on Black Friday. The big-box store has confirmed that its stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day "so associates can spend the day with their families."

Black Friday at Best Buy

Best Buy set its 2024 holiday plans in motion earlier than all of its retail rivals this year, and it's been working overtime ever since. In late September, it opened the floodgates with a Member Deal Days sale for paid members of its My Best Buy program. That was succeeded by an Apple Trade-Up Event that ran during the first half of October, plus a 48-Hour Flash Sale that coincided with Prime Big Deal Days. Next up is a Prep for the Holidays Event (beginning Oct. 21) packed with deals on gadgets for entertaining, then a 3-Day Gaming Event from Oct. 25 to 27.

Best Buy seems to like being the earliest, busiest birdie. After three days of early access for paid My Best Buy members, it began offering early Black Friday deals on Oct. 30 in 2023. It then launched into a prolonged official Black Friday sale featuring "incredible deals on thousands of gifts and top brands" a week in advance of actual Black Friday, going head to head with Amazon. It tied a bow on things with a two-day Cyber Monday sale beginning that Sunday.

Best Buy rolled out those Black Friday plans on Oct. 17 last year, so expect its 2024 schedule to show up any day now.

Best Buy Black Friday hours

If you're thinking about participating in the age-old tradition of camping out outside of a Best Buy on Black Friday, know that its brick-and-mortar stores were open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time last Black Friday. (No pressure, though: All of its deals should be available online, too.) They're normally closed on Thanksgiving, but that's not set in stone for 2024 just yet.

Black Friday at Target

Target threw its hat into the ring with a Circle Week event from Oct. 6 to 12, presenting members of its free-to-join loyalty program with an opportunity to "save on thousands of items ... and get an early start on holiday shopping." As things currently stand, it doesn't have any other sales in the pipeline — and I don't expect to hear a peep from it about Black Friday for the next couple of weeks.

Target's 2023 Black Friday sale was a weeklong event packed with its "best planned prices of the season" that ran from the Sunday before Black Friday through the Saturday after. It chased that shindig with an online-only Cyber Monday event, which brought in a fresh selection of new deals for the following Sunday and Monday.

Target didn't announce last year's programming until Nov. 16, or just three days before the sale started.

Target Black Friday hours

The bullseye brand's stores will probably open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday, as they have been in years past. They'll for sure be closed on Thanksgiving: Target CEO Brian Cornell made that a permanent policy in 2023.