You’d think a date as massive as Black Friday would be easy to pin down. But every year, millions of people find themselves frantically googling the calendar at the last minute. Honestly, it’s kinda hilarious how we all forget. So, let’s get the big answer out of the way immediately. Black Friday 2024 fell on Friday, November 29. Since Thanksgiving always lands on the fourth Thursday of November, the "big day" is always that following Friday. In 2024, because the month started on a Friday, Thanksgiving was pushed back to November 28th. This created one of the shortest holiday shopping windows possible—just 26 days between Black Friday and Christmas. It basically felt like a sprint for retailers and shoppers alike.
The Myth of the "Single Day"
If you were waiting until the actual date of Black Friday 2024 to start your shopping, you were already late. The "Friday" part of Black Friday is basically just a placeholder now. It’s more of a month-long marathon.
Major retailers have completely abandoned the idea of a 24-hour sale. Amazon, for example, kicked off their "Black Friday Week" on November 21st. Walmart and Target weren't far behind, launching waves of deals as early as the first week of November.
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Why? Because shipping.
Logistics in 2024 were a nightmare. With such a short window before Christmas, brands were terrified of fulfillment delays. They pushed consumers to buy early so they could actually get those packages to doorsteps before Santa arrived. If you waited until the 29th, you might have found that the hottest tech items—like the latest OLED TVs or specialized gaming gear—were already backordered.
Black Friday 2024: What Most People Get Wrong
Most people think Black Friday is just about the "doorbusters." You know, the blurry videos of people fighting over a $200 blender at 5 a.m. But that era is mostly dead. Retailers like Target and Best Buy kept their physical doors closed on Thanksgiving Day again in 2024, a trend that started during the pandemic and seems to be sticking for good.
Here is the reality of how the timing actually worked:
- Early November: Retailers release "Preview" deals. These are usually mediocre, meant to clear out old stock.
- The Week Before: This is when the real price drops start. Amazon and Walmart usually go head-to-head here.
- Thanksgiving Day: Massive online-only drops. While the physical stores are closed, the servers are melting.
- The Actual Date: Black Friday 2024 saw the "traditional" doorbusters, but mostly for in-store foot traffic.
The biggest shift was the "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) boom. In 2024, services like Klarna and Affirm saw record usage. People weren't just looking for the right date; they were looking for ways to stretch their budgets. Adobe Analytics reported that BNPL usage drove nearly $18 billion in online spending over the season. That’s a lot of payments being deferred into 2025.
It’s Not Just Electronics Anymore
We used to associate this date solely with cheap laptops and massive TVs. Not anymore. In 2024, the hottest categories were actually "experiences" and health-conscious tech.
Think about it. Peloton, Oura rings, and even travel packages from sites like Expedia had some of the most aggressive discounts. People are tired of "stuff." They want things that make them feel better or get them out of the house. Even grocery stores got in on the action, offering Black Friday deals on holiday meal kits because, let's face it, inflation made turkey expensive last year.
The Mobile Takeover
If you were sitting at a desktop computer on November 29, 2024, you were in the minority.
Mobile shopping didn't just grow; it dominated. Over 54% of all online sales on Black Friday were made via smartphones. This has changed how deals are released. Retailers now use app-exclusive notifications to "leak" deals to their most loyal customers minutes before they go live on the website. If you don't have the app, you're basically seeing the leftovers.
The Surprising History of the Name
We’ve all heard the story that "Black Friday" refers to stores finally moving from "the red" (debt) into "the black" (profit).
It’s a nice story. It’s also mostly a marketing invention from the 1980s.
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The real origin is much grittier. Police officers in Philadelphia in the 1950s and 60s coined the term to describe the absolute chaos that happened the day after Thanksgiving. Between the tourists coming in for the Army-Navy football game and the shoppers flooding downtown, the city became a gridlocked mess. The cops hated it. They called it "Black Friday" because they had to work double shifts and deal with more shoplifting than any other time of the year.
Retailers tried to rename it "Big Friday" to make it sound more positive. It didn't take. Eventually, they just leaned into the "red to black" narrative to make the name feel less like a warning and more like a celebration of capitalism.
How to Handle Future Black Fridays
Since the date of Black Friday 2024 has passed, the lessons we learned are vital for the next cycle. The "deal" you see on the actual Friday is rarely the lowest price of the year. Tools like CamelCamelCamel (for Amazon) or Honey show that prices often fluctuate wildly in the weeks leading up to the holiday.
What you should do for the next one:
- Track the "Anchor" Price: Don't trust the "original price" listed on the tag. Retailers often inflate this number right before a sale to make the discount look bigger. Look at the price in September or October to see if the Black Friday deal is actually a deal.
- Focus on the "Cyber Five": That’s the period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. 2024 showed us that the best inventory often disappears by Saturday morning.
- Check the Return Policy: This is huge. Because many people bought items on the November 29th date, but didn't gift them until late December, the standard 30-day return window can be a trap. Always look for "Extended Holiday Return" windows that go through late January.
- The "Midday" Peak: Data from 2024 showed that peak shopping happened around 11:00 AM CST. If you're looking for limited-run items, you need to be active well before lunch.
Black Friday 2024 was a record-breaker despite all the talk of a cooling economy. People spent over $10 billion online in the US alone on that one single day. But remember, the date is just a marker on the calendar. The real game is played in the weeks before, on the apps, and in the "buy now, pay later" fine print.
Map out your budget at least three weeks before the holiday begins. Use price-tracking browser extensions to verify that a "70% off" tag isn't just a marketing trick. Sign up for retailer newsletters using a secondary email address to catch "early access" codes that usually drop the Monday before Thanksgiving. Finally, prioritize items with free shipping thresholds, as 2024 data proved that shipping costs were the #1 reason for abandoned shopping carts.