These are the best times to shop on Black Friday. Here's how to avoid big crowds in California

These are the best times to shop on Black Friday. Here’s how to avoid big crowds in California

Posted by Admin November 28, 2024 Shopping

Black Friday is almost here, and Californians have a chance to save big on popular items, especially if you want to get some holiday shopping done.

From electronics to appliances to clothes and personal care items, many major United States retailers will have sales for holiday shoppers.

That means popular retail stores will be seeing a lot of foot traffic. Stores like Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Macy’s and more tend to see huge upticks in crowds, which can cause checkout lines to balloon and make shopping annoying.

It’s smart to have a plan of action for your Black Friday trips to stores across California; that way you can not only get the best sales but do your best to stay away from massive crowds of shoppers.

Here are the best times to shop on Black Friday 2024.

What’s the best time to shop on Black Friday?

Time Magazine in 2023 analyzed Google trends that showed foot traffic in stores was lowest between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., with the crowds starting to pick up at about 8 a.m.

The best way to bypass large Black Friday crowds could be to get up early and shop early, even if you’re still full from your Thanksgiving feast the day before.

Foot traffic peaks between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., which would be a good time to avoid shopping if you want to steer clear of crowds.

Crowds tend to die down as it gets later into the evening. Be careful with shopping too late at night, however, since many stores might have, by that time, sold out of some holiday deal items.

Expect lots of traffic, both on the road and in stores

Data tells us that Black Friday causes huge increases in traffic, both on foot and by car.

According to Google Consumer Trends, store foot traffic jumped 65% on Black Friday when compared with an average weekend day in November.

There are also more cars on the road, which causes an increase in accidents. According to Progressive, Black Friday saw about a 34% increase in car crashes compared with any other day of the year from 2010 to 2014.

Reach the reporter at zbradshaw@gannett.com or on X at @ZachBradshaw14.