FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Ahead of Black Friday, most retailers are already getting a jump on announcing big sales.

"People have cut down on what they spend," says Smarty CEO and consumer expert, Vipin Porwal. "People are buying what is essentially required of them."

New consumer data from Smarty, a cashback and coupon service for online shopping, shows tighter budgets are pushing shoppers to start buying earlier, making Amazon's Fall Prime Big Deal Days a holiday retail benchmark. But if you didn't add your items to cart, you didn't miss out.

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"Deals are there to be found," Porwal said. "I think people have to do value shopping."

Porwal says to take the time to compare prices and look for cashback offers.

"It all

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