NEW YORK — Serious deal-seekers are already planning their Thanksgiving weekend shopping, and experts believe that once again the holiday itself may offer better deals than Black Friday the day afterward.

Amid the clutter of deals clamoring for attention, smart and careful shoppers can come out ahead.

1. Study up

Make a comprehensive list of what you plan to buy, research what those items usually sell for at full price and on sale, and figure out how much you want to spend.

Also check out store flyers from previous years online, since many retailers repeat the same deals at the same price. Eighty percent of the products and 43 percent of the prices highlighted on the front pages of the 2015 and 2014 Black Friday flyers of Best Buy, Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s, Walmart and J.C. Penney were the same, says Market Track LLC, a price tracking firm.

2. Look at the whole season

Retailers have been starting to spread their offers out, with some starting well before Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com both kicked off holiday deals on thousands of items.

Still, there’s a good chance you can get a better deal on Thanksgiving for certain items.

3. Use apps and rewards

Strategize how to leverage the store rewards points you already have or holiday bonus offers. Look for the apps that work well for you. For example, Flipp recreates the traditional print flyer experience so you don’t have to sift through all the weekly store flyers — and not just on Black Friday.

4. Think past the holidays

If you don’t need items by the holiday — or aren’t seeing some friends and relatives until afterward, shoppers might do better waiting to buy toys and clothing like sweaters and coats until the end of the season. That lets them take advantage of clearance sales, says Glaser.

For clothing, discounts are on average of 40 percent over the Thanksgiving weekend, but at the end of the season, they go to 70 percent.