Wal-Mart Makes Changes to Black Friday Strategy

Wal-Mart plans to offer most of its Black Friday discounts to online shoppers hours before they become available in stores, as the company attempts to hold off challenges by Amazon.com and other e-commerce rivals. The world’s biggest retailer, which said it still expects to draw record crowds even with the online push, will make the deals available on its website at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time on Thanksgiving morning. The discounts will be available in stores starting at 6 p.m. that day, the company said in a statement.