Walmart Is Kicking Off Black Friday Deals With a Thanksgiving Cookie Party

Shoppers Get Early Start To Holiday Shopping On Annual Black Friday (Credit: Stephanie Keith—Getty Images)

Walmart is hoping some cookies and early access to deals will get you into the holiday shopping spirit. The big-box retailer on Thursday announced its plans for what it calls the "Best Black Friday Yet.

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" And while the company has promised a variety of deals for the shopping holiday, it's its schedule of events that it hopes will ultimately attract shoppers to its stores over the holiday weekend. Walmart (WMT) is kicking off things starting on Thursday with 18 available exclusively on its website. It will follow that on November 21 with early access to on the company's website starting at 10 p.m. ET. That's two hours sooner than years past, when it would start offering Black Friday deals online starting at midnight. On Thanksgiving, Walmart will host its first-ever Light Up Black Friday party at stores across the U.S. The party, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. local time at its stores, will include free coffee and cookies. The company anticipates giving away four million cups of coffee and two million cookies as part of the event. Finally, at 6 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, the in-store shopping will begin. Walmart is also launching a new Black Friday Store Maps feature in its mobile app to help store shoppers find products and Walmart shoppers will be able to check out around the store instead of just checkout lanes, thanks to store associates having Check Out With Me mobile payment terminals.