How much do independent stores discount before Black Friday?
A study of the discount codes 2,600+ independent online stores give.
Across 2,600+ independent online stores on Whale Coupons, the median discount code is 10% off and the average is 11.1% off. 9% of the stores that give a percentage discount offer 20% or more, and 84% offer at least 10%. Beauty stores give the biggest codes on average (12.2%), while Electronics stores give the smallest (9.5%).
How big are the discounts?
Share of percentage-discount stores in each range.
Average discount by category
Average percentage code per category, biggest first.
Category breakdown
| Category | Stores with a % code | Median | Average | 20% or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty | 345 | 10% | 12.2% | 13% |
| Fashion | 623 | 10% | 12.1% | 10% |
| Health & wellness | 203 | 10% | 11.7% | 13% |
| Travel | 20 | 10% | 11.7% | 15% |
| Learning | 64 | 10% | 10.9% | 8% |
| Pets | 78 | 10% | 10.7% | 8% |
| Baby & kids | 89 | 10% | 10.6% | 3% |
| Automotive | 71 | 10% | 10.6% | 7% |
| Food & drink | 116 | 10% | 10.4% | 7% |
| Home & kitchen | 420 | 10% | 10.3% | 7% |
| Sports & outdoors | 197 | 10% | 10.2% | 6% |
| Toys & hobbies | 127 | 10% | 9.6% | 3% |
| Electronics | 171 | 10% | 9.5% | 6% |
Other findings
- 96% of stores apply the discount automatically through a link, so shoppers don’t need to type a code.
- 96% of stores use the same code, WHALECOUPONS, which the stores issued to Whale Coupons.
- 15% of Travel stores with a percentage code give 20% or more, the highest share of any category.
Methodology
We took every store listed on Whale Coupons when this page was built: more than 2,600 independent online stores with a working code (stores without a category were left out). More than 2,500 of them give a percentage discount; these are the basis for the median, average and share figures. 93 stores give a fixed amount off instead (such as $10 off) and are counted only in the store total. Categories with fewer than 20 percentage-discount stores are not shown separately. Each discount is the one the store issued to us for its customers, as shown on its store page. The page is recalculated automatically whenever our store list changes.
Frequently asked questions
Are these Black Friday sale prices?
No. They are the standing discount codes stores issue to us, which shoppers can use right now. Some stores add separate Black Friday offers later, so these figures show the baseline going into the sale season.
Why use the median?
A few stores give very large discounts, which pulls the average up. The median is the middle store, so it shows what a typical independent store gives.
Can I use these numbers?
Yes. Please quote the figures with a link to this page as the source.