Dive Brief:

• Target on Monday revealed its Black Friday ad, trumpeting "the lowest prices ever" on holiday gifts starting before Thanksgiving. This year, discounts will be applied automatically at checkout and no coupon or codes are required, according to a company press release. Some Black Friday deals were available during a preview sale on Monday until stores closed. 

• On Thanksgiving Day, the mass merchant will open from 6 p.m. to midnight, the fourth year straight the retailer has opened on the holiday. Black Friday deals will be available for all guests on Target.com early the morning of Thanksgiving, with free shipping on all orders. Shoppers who spend $50 on Nov. 24 will receive a coupon for 20% off a future shopping trip. Discounts will continue after the November holiday, with "Weekend Deals" offered through December, the retailer said.

• The retailer’s REDcard holders will enjoy special treatment on Nov. 22, with more than 100 Black Friday deals available on Target.com — the most Black Friday deals the retailer has ever made available before Thanksgiving.

Dive Insight:

Target is out of the gate with some hefty deals well before Black Friday or, more accurately, Thanksgiving (and beyond). The retailer is advertising thousands of deals, including lowest prices of the year on video games, TVs and other electronics.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, which is increasingly frowned upon as a shopping day, Target is stepping lightly. More than half of Americans (57.5%) disagree with stores opening on Thanksgiving, up from 54.7% last year, according to research released Tuesday from holiday deals site Best Black Friday. Of those opposed, 36.9% strongly disagree, compared to 20.7% who "just disagree," according to the study, which was emailed to Retail Dive.

Still, that leaves plenty of Americans who either do agree (16.2%) or don’t care (26.25%) — and they’re expected to spend some $2.05 billion this year on the holiday online alone, Best Black Friday found.

Indeed, Target on Monday said it’s opening on Thanksgiving because that has translated significantly to sales. Opening on the holiday, it said, is an accommodation of customers "who make Black Friday shopping part of their Thanksgiving tradition," but also, crucially, reflects "when the retailer has seen the most shopping in stores for the past several years" — while scaling back hours.

Perhaps to assuage the nay-sayers, the company also made a point of saying that, in addition to its regular hourly pay boost, some shifts on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekends leading up to Christmas will be paid a premium even above its higher holiday compensation. "During the holiday season, Target works closely with its team members to understand scheduling preferences and compensates all hourly team members who work on national holidays, including Thanksgiving, with pay equal to time-and-a-half their hourly rate," the company said.

"We know that shopping Black Friday deals at Target is an annual tradition for many of our guests across the country," Janna Potts, Target executive vice president and chief stores officer, said in a statement. "Our hours for this year ensure we're ready with great deals for those guests who want to shop following their Thanksgiving dinner, while also giving our teams a chance to recharge and prepare our stores before we open on Friday to greet guests with even more holiday savings."

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2017 holiday shopping season. You can browse our holiday page and sign up for our holiday newsletter for more stories.