Walmart Reshapes Black Friday for Coronavirus Era

Black Friday is taking on a new look at Walmart, it said Wednesday, the second and final day of Amazon’s Prime Day two-day sales fest. Walmart promised “increased availability of event items" and a monitored in-store experience. The “revamped Black Friday savings event” will deliver prices customers expect in “an entirely new way to help provide a safer and more convenient shopping experience,” Walmart said, with the health and safety of customers and employees its “top priority.” Employees will "meter customers into the store to help reduce congestion and promote social distancing inside stores." Consumers will be directed to "shop down the right-hand side of aisles to be able to easily -- and safely -- select the Black Friday items they’re interested in purchasing." On in-store Black Friday event days, “customers will form a single, straight line to enter the store,” it said. That's in contrast to past Black Fridays, when customers crowded entrances to secure doorbuster items before they sold out. This year, associates will hand out “sanitized shopping carts to customers to help with social distancing, and Health Ambassadors will be placed at entrances to greet customers and remind them to put on a mask.” It's offering the option of curbside pickup for the first time, said Scott McCall, U.S. chief merchandising officer. The company will hold its biggest wireless phone event in-stores and online on Nov. 14 with deals on iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones.