Walmart’s own newsroom has confirmed three holiday shopping events running from November 12 through December 2, 2026. The dates are specific, the start times are specific, and the difference between the online start and the in-store start is the thing most shoppers get wrong.
What Walmart has not published is a list of prices. Honest Fred has not verified individual deals, and Walmart sets and changes its own prices, so treat any “best deal” claim you see elsewhere as marketing until you check the price yourself.
Event one: Early Black Friday Deals, November 12 to 15
- Online: begins on Walmart.com at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 12.
- In stores: begins at 6 a.m. local time on November 12.
- Walmart+ early access: hot Deal drops open to members at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 12.
- Everyone else: any remaining hot Deal items open to all customers at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 13.
That 24-hour gap is the whole story of the first event. If an item is described as a hot Deal drop, a Walmart+ membership is the difference between seeing it and seeing “out of stock”.
Event two: Black Friday Deals, November 23 to 29
- Online: begins on Walmart.com at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 23.
- In stores: begins at 6 a.m. local time on November 27.
- Walmart+ early access: hot Deal drops open to members at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 23.
- Everyone else: remaining hot Deal items open at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 24.
Note the four-day gap between the online start and the in-store start. In-store Black Friday is on the Friday, but the sale itself has been live online since the Monday. Anyone who waits for the store opening is shopping a sale that has already been running.
Event three: Cyber Monday, November 30 to December 2
The final event begins online at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 30. Walmart’s announcement does not describe a separate in-store start for this one, which fits the pattern: Cyber Monday is an online event, and the store timetable from the earlier events does not carry over.
The membership arithmetic
Walmart says select online-only deals during both the Early Black Friday and Black Friday events are reserved for Walmart+ members for the first 24 hours, while supplies last. It also announced a combined membership offer: Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus together for $120 a year. That is a bundle decision, not a discount on a single purchase, and it only makes sense if you would use both.
If you are weighing a membership against the savings on one item, do the sum honestly: the annual fee is a certain cost and the discount is not. Our guide to checking the real total before you buy online walks through the fees, delivery charges and return costs that decide whether a headline price is actually a saving.
Three practical traps
Time zones. The online starts are all given in Eastern time. A 12:01 a.m. ET start is 9:01 p.m. on the previous evening on the west coast, which is either convenient or confusing depending on which coast you are on.
“While supplies last”. Walmart’s own wording on member access includes that qualifier. Early access is not a reservation, and a sold-out hot item does not come back because you were a member.
Prices that move. A price seen during one event is not guaranteed during the next. The three windows are separated by days, and Walmart does not publish a price-lock commitment across them.
What we did not do
We did not shop these events, test checkout, or verify any individual product price. Every date, time and membership detail above comes from Walmart’s corporate announcement of October 26, 2026, linked below. Anything a third-party deals site claims about prices, stock levels or “secret” discounts is not confirmed by that announcement.
Sources
- Walmart Corporate: Walmart unwraps three major holiday shopping events
- The Verge: Black Friday deals start times and store hours
