Holiday Shoppers: Find Deals and Avoid Headaches on the Best Shopping Days

While people will be waiting to get into stores even earlier this year, now that Black Friday starts at midnight for many major retailers, those in the know say that may not be the best time to shop, especially for those wishing to avoid headaches.

Sure, there will be deals at midnight, but there will also be a lot of people out during Black Friday and Super Saturday, making those days less than optimal for shopping, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest provider of retail and mall foot-traffic counting services.

"Most people shop on two of the season's famous days — Black Friday and Super Saturday — because they're convenient and offer potentially good deals," said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak co-founder. “… Based on real-time analytics, we can predict even better days to shop, when consumers' time and dollars will go further."

The week following Black Friday and Super Saturday is actually expected to be the best time to shop at stores, according to ShopperTrak. That week is expected to have the fewest crowds during the holiday season because many tired shoppers will not want to hit the stores again. For shoppers that means fewer crowds, but good deals for those who wait. Price reductions are possible too after the weekend if items didn’t sell.

Shoppers who visit stores during the week in early December will encounter the fewest headaches, according to ShopperTrak.

According to ShopperTrak, the best days to shop, from least busy to busiest, are:

Rank

Date

Week Day

1

Nov. 29

Tuesday

2

Nov. 28

Monday

3

Nov. 30

Wednesday

4

Dec. 1

Thursday

5

Dec. 6

Tuesday

6

Dec. 5

Monday

7

Dec. 7

Wednesday

8

Dec. 8

Thursday

9

Dec. 12

Monday

10

Dec. 13

Tuesday

One retailer opening its doors on Thanksgiving is . For the first time, the big-box giant is opening its doors on Thanksgiving day. 

“Our customers told us they would rather stay up late to shop than get up early, so we’re going to hold special events on Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, Walmart U.S. chief merchandising officer, said in a statement.

Stores will open at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving, offering deals on toys, home goods and clothing. Deals on electronics will kick off at midnight on Friday, and the store is also planning special offers throughout the weekend and Thanksgiving day online deals.

The retailer is also offering layaway this holiday season on toys and electronics. Items can be placed on layaway on the Walmart website and picked up at local stores. Final payment is due Dec. 17, which is also the last day to pick up items.

Thanksgiving day online deals at Walmart include:

• 46” HDTVs for under $400
• Electric Ride-Ons for children, priced under $40
• Choice of four select Blu-ray discs for only $20

Specials beginning at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving include:

• Xbox360 4GB with Kinect Console – $199.96 plus a $50 Walmart gift card
• Select DVDs – starting at $1.96
• 6V or 12V Ride-Ons (e.g., Jeep Wrangler, X Games ATV or Barbie Jeep) – $99 each
• Barbie, Disney Princess or Bratz branded Fashion Dolls – $5 each
• 8-ft Inflatable Santa or Snowman – $20
• Paula Deen 20-Piece Cookware Set – $86.44
• Black & Decker Blender, Coffeemaker or Electric Griddle – $9.44 each
• Men's Wrangler, Ladies Rider or Junior LEI Jeans – $9.97 each
• Kids Character Sleepwear Sets – $4.47
• Rival Mini Chopper or 2-Slice Waffle Maker – $2.84 each

Black Friday electronics deals kicking off at midnight:

• Emerson 32" LCD TV (31.5" diagonal screen size) – $188
• LG Blu-ray Player – $49
• Kodak C1450 14 MP Camera – $49
• Sansui 19" TV (18.5" diagonal screen size) – $98
• HP DJ-1051 All-in-One Printer – $19
• HP 15” AMD Dual-Core Laptop – $248
• Philips® Wi-Fi Blu-ray Home Theatre – $178
• Magellan 4.7" GPS – $69
• 8GB iPod Touch – $195
• Samsung 51" Plasma TV (50.7" diagonal screen size) – $498

Weekend deals starting at 8 a.m. Black Friday:

• Goodyear Tires starting at $59
• Vizio 42" 3D LED Wi-Fi HDTV (42.0" diagonal screen size 1080p) – $598
• Buy any smartphone with a contract and get a $100 Walmart gift card
• Disney The Lion King, Cars 2, or Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides DVDs – $12.96 each