Some Black Friday deals are here now

November 15, 2012 (WPVI) -- Traditionally, Black Friday has been the start of the holiday shopping season, when people flock to their favorite stores to get the best deals. Well, all that may be changing.

Trae Bodge of RetailMeNot.com says consumers are shopping earlier. That's prompting retailers to offer deals earlier.

She explains, "RetailMeNot conducted a survey to find out when consumers plan to start their holiday shopping, and 40% indicated that they planned to start shopping prior to November. So, 'Christmas Creep' is really happening. We've coined a phrase 'OctoNovemDecember,' which indicates this very elongated shopping period which begins in October and runs all the way through the holidays. And people are going to be clamoring for Black Friday-worthy deals every day."

Bodge says the best deals right now are on appliances and home décor items. Next up will be clothes.

But for toys, the demand runs through the season and that might be the one category where it doesn't pay to wait.

"A lot of the hot toys are going to sell out very quickly,' she says. "So if you see the toy that your child is clamoring for, and it's great if you can get a deal, too, you should grab it now, before it sells out."

Bodge says savvy shoppers can find deals both in stores and online.

"I think it really comes down to personal preference in terms of how the consumer likes to shop" she says. "I do recommend (doing) a little homework and trying to find the best price. But, if you like shopping in-store, you can use a mobile app on your phone, like RedLaser has a mobile app, where you can do price comparison right there on the go. RetailMeNot has an app where you can look for coupons that are available in-store as well as online. So, if you're out and about in the Philadelphia area, looking for a store that might have the lowest price on an item, you can do those things straight from your phone."

To check out the holiday deals page on RetailMeNot, click here.

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