CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The National Retail Federation says a record 186.9 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year. That’s up more than three million people from last year’s record.

While promotions will span the entire five-day holiday weekend, Black Friday remains the most popular day to shop.

"There's two big categories on Black Friday where the prices, we expect them to be the lowest, and that's appliances and electronics," said Kimberly Palmer , a personal finance expert at NerdWallet .

Palmer said knowing what to get when can help you save money.

"With Black Friday, the discounts are very specific to a certain product," Palmer said. "So a specific TV or a specific laptop might go on deep discount, but Cyber Monday is more about t

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