News

The best time for online Black Friday shopping? Wednesday night

The online versions of these sales typically start many hours earlier and in some cases days before.

November 18, 2014

Many shoppers believe that the best time to shop online for Black Friday deals is on Black Friday itself. However after examining data from the past two years, Black Friday site GottaDeal.com finds that the best time to shop online is actually late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

While consumers may be used to the idea of physical brick-and-mortar stores opening on Thanksgiving night — many stores are opening at 6 p.m. this year — they may not be aware that the online versions of these sales typically start many hours earlier and in some cases days before, the company said in a press release.

GottaDeal.com looked at both the popularity of the deals posted on the site's homepage, measured by clicks per hour, as well as the sales generated through the links on the site. The results show that Thanksgiving is the clear winner when it comes to both the quantity and quality of online bargains.

"Many online shoppers have traditionally started their online shopping after Thanksgiving dinner," said Brad Olson, owner of GottaDeal.com. "We're trying to let them know that most of the online Black Friday sales will actually begin at midnight (Wednesday), so they should be at their computer late Wednesday night getting ready. We hear from visitors each year who woke up on Thanksgiving Day only to discover the best deals had sold out."