Black Friday web tips: deal locators, security suggestions and more
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Black Friday insanity — and the snarled lines and pushy shoppers that entails — is fast approaching.
No worries — the World Wide Web is here to help frazzled shoppers deal.
Got an Android smartphone or iPhone? Use it to access The Dealmap, which has spent the last month laying out more than 165,000 deals across 52,000 retail locations nationwide for the shopping extravaganza taking place the day after Thanksgiving.
Local businesses can also submit deals to the application.
Product inventory tracker Milo.com will be keeping a log of whether more than 5,000 products are still on shelves at local stores. The site has also prepared a handy field guide to surviving the retail rush, complete with footwear tips, how to pick battles with other aggressive shoppers and a warning to stay off Twitter (better to save those exclusive deals for yourself).
Coupons site Offers.com has narrowed down some consumer electronics deals here. The list includes $150 savings on a Zenith 42-inch plasma HD-TV from Kmart.
The discounts will be plentiful — Apple even released a teaser ad encouraging shoppers to “wrap it up” on Friday.
But few deals will be as social media-savvy as the one from Shoebuy.com. The website, using technology from Ifeelgoods Inc., is trying to entice buyers by offering 50 free Facebook Credits with any purchase. The credits can be used on games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars.
Don’t get too excited though, especially when shopping online. Poisoned websites packed with malware are lurking as shoppers search for hot holiday gifts, according to anti-virus software company F-Secure.
Search terms for popular projects – including “Kinect for Xbox,” “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” “Amazon Kindle” and “Apple iPad” – can lead to dangerous sites that could infect unprotected computers, the company said.
So shop safe: Try to go directly to a retailer’s site.
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Target announces pre-Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales
Wal-Mart to match rivals’ Black Friday deals
Black Friday: The Brand X survival guide
— Tiffany Hsu
Photo (top): The Dealmap
Photo (bottom): Paco Alvarado of Long Beach rolls out of Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley on Black Friday last year having bought two flat-screen TVs, a DVD player and a phone — for $1,900. The store opened at 5 a.m. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times
