Black Friday retailers compared: who really cuts prices?

Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and the big UK chains: what the price data says about their Black Friday deals, and what to compare beyond price.

By the Dealizard team ·

Dealizard lizard weighing shopping bags on a scale in front of shopfronts

The big picture

Every major retailer advertises Black Friday discounts, but independent price tracking shows many of those deals are available at the same price, or less, at other times of year. Below we look at the data by region. Whichever retailer you use, the Dealizard deal page for a product shows its price history and other stores.

UK retailers

In UK consumer group Which?'s study of the 2024 Black Friday period, this is the share of each retailer's deals that were the same price or cheaper at another time of year:

  • John Lewis: 94%
  • Very: 93%
  • Amazon UK: 88%
  • AO: 85%
  • Richer Sounds: 55%

No retailer came out perfectly. Even the best performer had more than half its deals available at the same price or less at other times.

US retailers

In the US, the biggest Black Friday names are Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and Target, and the sales start around Thanksgiving week. We do not yet have a Which?-style per-retailer breakdown for the US that matches the UK study above. Independent tracking still supports the same habit: check price history, not just the sale badge. For example, Oxylabs' analysis of Black Friday 2024 pricing on major US marketplaces found that a large share of products with advertised reference prices had not been offered at that reference price on a regular basis for a substantial period beforehand — a reminder that a big "was" price is not proof of a bargain.

Advertised discount depth also varies by chain and category from year to year, so treat any single "lowest average % off" claim as a snapshot, not a guarantee for 2026.

What to compare beyond price

  • Price matching: Policies change. Before you buy, check whether the retailer will match a competitor (and whether sale prices are covered).
  • Holiday returns windows: Many chains extend returns through early January; confirm the date on the product page or checkout for your country.
  • Delivery and in-store pickup cut-offs for gifts that must arrive before a set date.

Use Dealizard to compare

Every deal page lists other stores and price history, so you can see quickly whether the same item is cheaper somewhere else. Try the same product via a regional redirect:

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