With last year’s Black Friday sales drawing 81.7 million Americans to shop in person and 87.3 million to shop online, the personal-finance company WalletHub recently released its report on the Best Places to Shop on Black Friday in 2025 to help consumers maximize their savings.
Best Black Friday Retailers (Avg. Discount)
Taking the top spot as the best place to shop on Black Friday was JC Penney with an average discount of 74.08 percent. Next was Belk, 72.42 percent; Kohl’s, 45.39 percent; Macy’s, 44.46 percent; The Home Depot, 35.63 percent. Rated sixth through 10th were BJ’s, sixth, 31.26 percent discount; Amazon, 29.63 percent; Target, 29.36 percent; Newegg, 28.80 percent and, number 10 on the list was Best Buy at 28.58 percent average discount.
Key Stats
JC Penney has the highest overall discount rate, at 74.1 percent, whereas Costco has the lowest at 15.1 percent.
The overall average discount for Black Friday is 37 percent. Consumers should aim for this discount amount or higher to avoid Black Friday traps.
The “Computers & Phones” category has one of the biggest shares of discounted items, 20.2 percent of all offers, whereas the “Consumer Packaged Goods” category has the smallest at 2.8 percent.
“The best Black Friday deals can save you up to 86 percent this year, but when you’re bombarded by ads and there are so many places to shop, it can be hard to decide where to actually spend your money,” noted WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo. “Knowing which retailers actually offer significant deals compared to their normal prices can save you a lot of time and prevent buyer’s remorse. This year, the stores offering the top deals are JC Penney, Belk and Kohl’s.”
To view the full report and each retailer’s rank in all product categories, visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-retailers-for-black-friday/8385/
Expert Commentary
How can consumers distinguish between real Black Friday deals and marketing traps?
“To tell real Black Friday deals from marketing traps, look up the item’s price history and compare today’s price to its usual average. Be skeptical of ‘was/now’ comparisons that cite an inflated former price, and read the fine print for shipping, handling, restocking fees, or short return windows that erase savings. Watch for look-alike ‘special models’ that cut features to hit a low headline price and compare specs line by line rather than trusting brand and size alone. If a discount is not clearly better than the typical going rate, it is not a real deal.”
Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina
“My biggest advice here is to not do something at the last moment. If you have a list of things you might be looking for and have examined the price of them over a period of time, it’s easier to distinguish a good deal from something that they are just trying to make look like a good deal. Also, many consumers appear to have been trained to think that Amazon has the best deals on everything but that is definitely not always the case. Looking at more than one site would be a good idea.”
Melissa St. James, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, California State University Dominguez Hills
How can consumers protect themselves from overspending on Black Friday?
“The best defense is awareness: understand the ethical and psychological forces at play, recognize your own rationalizations, and evaluate the product’s true compatibility with your needs and values. Do your research before Black Friday so you know prices and values and brands. It’s very easy to overspend when you use a credit card because you don’t feel it in the moment. Make sure to look at every price and look at what you are signing. Write down each purchase in a notebook as you go through the day, and consult it as you make each purchase so that you know what you have already spent when you approach each new purchase. When you make each purchase conscious and deliberate you set yourself up for success.”
Deborah Y. Cohn, Ph.D., MBA – Professor, New York Institute of Technology
Which day do you believe people get the best deals: Black Friday, Cyber Monday or another day? Why?
“Interestingly, it really depends on the item itself. For toys, it is likely to be Black Friday but for other items (laptops, watches, clothing) it might even be the week before Christmas if retailers feel overstocked and are desperate to unload their bloated inventories.”
Patrick Tormey – Adjunct Lecturer, Lehman College, Division of CUNY
“The best day depends on what you are buying. Black Friday often delivers the biggest drops on TVs, toys, and large appliances, while Cyber Monday tends to be strongest for laptops, accessories, headphones, and apparel from online-first brands. Thanksgiving Day can be surprisingly good for sporting goods. Cyber Monday is usually the largest online spending day, but you will see excellent prices across the entire long weekend. Treat the Thursday-to-Monday stretch as one event and time purchases by category rather than chasing a single ‘magic’ day.”
Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina
