The busiest shopping day of the year is finally here!
While some major retailers, like Costco and Nordstrom, decided to keep their doors closed this Black Friday, others like Walmart, are honoring the long-standing tradition.
This morning, shoppers have been flooding Walmart stores across the country in search of good deals, and were greeted by new crowd control measures that only seemed to make things even more chaotic.
People were surprised to find that the retail giant has made some rearrangements to the stores' layout, which is supposedly done to make the check-out process quicker and to highlight popular products.
According to the Business Insider, Walmart even introduced new color-coded maps to help customers navigate the stores, but that appeared to have only created more confusion.
Many customers have since taken to social media to voice their disappointment over Walmart's Black Friday revamp.
Based on some of the tweets, it seems like there were some closed aisles and lots of boxes blocking people's paths.
Walmart was a mess! it felt like a maze with all the black friday boxes everywhere!
— Arti The Choke🗿C.H👅🆠(@Cumm_Dumpster69) November 22, 2018
Went to my local store last night to shop the Black Friday Ads. What a freaking unorganized mess. Whoever designed this shopping maze doesn't really shop in stores on this day. I wasn't looking to buy a lot, but I will not do that again. Came home and ordered it on Amazon. 🤪
— Tommy (@TommyHyde6) November 23, 2018
Live from Walmart herding cattle I suppose pic.twitter.com/EU5M0dEDSN
— Slade (@SladeAdams4) November 22, 2018
I just went to Walmart like some nut to look at Christmas decorations they wouldn't let people go down certain aisles. It was miserable and guess what I didn't buy a thing! I should have known better.
— JANICE COMBS (@jicombs) November 22, 2018
It was a total joke. We were in and out of @Target in under 15 mins but at @Walmart it took then 30 minutes to realize nobody made it to the checkouts because we were all stuck in the maze and nobody could move. They finally opened spots for us to make it to the registers.
— Matt Paschke (@mpaschke13) November 23, 2018
Of course, some lucky shoppers were able to successfully navigate the stores and come out with the items on their lists, but that's partly due to the "Check Out With Me" option that Walmart introduced this year.
This new service allows employees stationed in the busiest parts of the stores to check out customers using mobile devices, and it has been very popular with customers.
At Walmart, can you say "Check Out With Me?" This is the best!! No waiting in line for toys and electronics, just check out in the store aisle. Convenience AND customer service. #NPDHoliday pic.twitter.com/wPOOBh1LbZ
— Juli Lennett (@JuliLennett) November 23, 2018
Despite the mob and the complicated layout, people are still making their way to their local Walmart stores to kick-off their holiday shopping. So if you're someone who doesn't like big crowds, you'll want to think twice before going to Walmart today.