The best stores for discounted Black Friday shopping

When it comes to major discounts and killer deals, some retailers fare better than others.

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Luckily, analysts over at personal finance website WalletHub did some of the work for shoppers as they prepare for the hectic post-Thanksgiving holiday.

After surveying nearly 7,000 deals from 35 of the biggest United States retailers’ Black Friday ad scans, WalletHub researchers identified the stores offering the biggest discounts based on the pre-discounted price of a given item. The list excludes deals without calculable percentage markdowns.

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Analysts also organized the deals into 11 product groups, including apparel/accessories, consumer electronics, appliances, jewelry and toys.

Of the 35 retailers examined, Belk ranked first in the best places to shop on Black Friday list, offering an average discount of 68.9 percent, up from 62.8 percent last year.

JCPenney came in second, with average discounts at 65.1 percent.

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Here are the 10 best places to shop on Black Friday, according to WalletHub:

1. Belk (68.9 percent discount)
2. JCPenney (65.1 percent)
3. Stage (62.1 percent)
4. Kohl's (60.8 percent)
5. New York & Company (54.5 percent)
6. Payless ShoeSource (50.3 percent)
7. Dick's Sporting Goods (49.9 percent)
8. Macy's (48.7 percent)
9. Fred Meyer (45.3 percent)
10. Shopko (45.2 percent)

And the top three retailers for each category:

Apparel and accessories

1. Meijer
2. JCPenney
3. Belk

Computers and phones

1. Lenovo
2. JCPenney
3. Office Depot and Office Max

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Consumer electronics

1. Fred Meyer
2. Academy Sports and Outdoors
3. Staples

Consumer packaged goods

1. JCPenney
2. Staples
3. Belk

Toys

1. Stage
2. Belk
3. JCPenney

Appliances

1. Stage
2. Belk
3. Fred Meyer

Furniture

1. JCPenney
2. Shopko
3. Fred Meyer

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Jewelry

1. Sears
2. Stage
3. Kohl's

Books, movies and music

1. Fred Meyer
2. Amazon
3. BJ's

Video games software

1. Best Buy
2. Wal-mart
3. Target

Other product categories

1. Belk
2. Stage
3. Kohl's

According to WalletHub, the majority of discounts are concentrated in apparel and accessories, followed by computers and phones. Jewelry will be the hot-discount product this Black Friday.