TAMPA, Fla. -- Brick and mortar stores are fighting with online retailers this year, hoping for big sales in the first 24 hours of Black Friday shopping.
- Retail stores uses new technology
- Some of it includes mobile check-out, in-store mapping
- Store are competing with online retailers for Black Friday shoppers
To do it, local stores are now incorporating some of the same technology that makes online shopping so convenient.
Marisol Escarcega, a Walmart manager in Tampa, says new technology will make Black Friday shopping more enjoyable for customers and easier to handle for store employees.
"The biggest competition is with ourselves," Escarcega said. "What can we do better you know each year to make the experience better for our customers. So every time we are trying to come up with something new."
This year Walmart and other stores are using new technology that will help you avoid long check-out lines as well as provide real-time, in-store mapping to help you find items quickly.
At Walmart, new "Pay with Me" scanners will be carried by some store employees, allowing you to pay for your items with a credit card or a mobile pay app, regardless of where you are in the store.
Mobile check-outs are expected to lower wait times at registers and help clear people out of stores more quickly.
And if you have ever struggled to find exactly what you are looking for, new GPS mapping will help.
Most stores are now including a real-time GPS map of their stores in phone apps, allowing you to search for items, and see on the map exactly where the item is located down to the aisle and shelf it is sitting on.
Stores launching new tech for Black Friday are expected to have it in place throughout the first holiday shopping weekend.
Experts say it's likely shoppers this year will buy more of their items using their phones than with any other device.