How to Shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

I’m always excited when it’s time for the Nordstrom anniversary sale. As a long-time, devoted Nordstrom customer, I know that sales at the store are not to be beat. 

And Nordstrom has big sales during the year. One, there is the half-yearly sale, which occurs twice a year. The dates for that sale are usually in the fall and the spring. Two, there is the big anniversary sale every year in July.

Then, there is a third sale to take advantage of, too. It’s at the sister brand Nordstrom Rack. Called Clear the Rack, you can expect this special sale to happen at least once a season. That’s when you’ll find the best markdowns on the season that’s just ended.

Here is my article that compares Nordstrom with Nordstrom Rack.

So, for example, at the beginning of summer, Clear the Racks is the time to buy for spring. And in the beginning of fall, Clear the Rack sale is the best time to shop Nordstrom Rack for summer deals.

Questions about the annual Nordstrom anniversary sale

Despite all these great sales at Nordstrom, this article is devoted to helping you understand and get answers to questions about the anniversary sale. At the start, I’ll answer the most common questions. After that, I’ll talk about some of the categories where you can expect to find great deals.

In addition, I can tell you, without doubt, which brands you should be shopping during the anniversary sale. Finally, I’ll give you a sneak peak on the best ways to get the most out of the Nordstrom anniversary sale.

Answers to some questions depend on customer status

I’d mentioned at the top of this article that I’ve been a devout Nordstrom customer for years. As such I have a Nordstrom credit card. Also, I’m a member of the Nordy Club, Nordstrom’s Rewards program.

Sidebar: when you sign up for a Nordstrom credit card, you’ll earn an immediate Nordstrom Note that you can spend. Because of my Nordy Club membership — which is free, by the way, as is the credit card; there’s no annual fee — I get earlier access to the Nordstrom Anniversary sale.

So, as I answer common questions below, I’ll address the answers for the general public as well as for existing Nordstrom customers like me. Hope that all makes sense.

When is was the Nordstrom anniversary sale in 2024

In 2024 the Nordstrom anniversary sale for the general public starts on July 15. When does the anniversary sale start? 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time. It goes through August 4, 2024.

Like I said, existing Nordstrom customers get early access to the Nordstrom sale. So, depending on your status in the Nordy Club, you could start shopping the sale as much as eight days ahead of the general public.

Right now, there are three Nordy Club statuses you could have. Each has a different early shopping date for the 2024 anniversary sale. They are:

• Icons: July 9-14, 2024
• Ambassadors: July 10-14, 2024
• Influencers: July 11-14, 2024

How to join the Nordstrom Nordy Club

Also, you don’t have to have a Nordstrom credit card to be in the Nordy Club. Anyone can earn points by shopping at Nordstrom. However, those with a Nordstrom credit card and in the Nordy Club do get extra rewards and other benefits.

For example, we get first access to the aforementioned Clear the Racks sales. Also, we get free basic alterations at Nordstrom stores.

Plus, we can activate extra points to earn even more when we shop, such as triple points shopping days.

Nordstrom Nordy Club status

As I mentioned, there are three levels of status of the Nordy Club. This is based on how much you’ve spent in the past year.

Nordy Club is for American customers only. Two of these statuses–Influencer and Ambassador–are available to non-cardholders only. You must be a cardholder to achieve the third level status–Icon.

Non-cardholder Nordy Club statuses

If you do not have a Nordstrom credit card, you can earn the following two Nordy Club status each year; points expire after 12 months of inactivity:

• INFLUENCER—minimum of $500 net spend on qualifying items at Nordstrom locations
• AMBASSADOR—minimum of $5,000 net spend on qualifying items at Nordstrom locations

Nordstrom credit card holders and Nordy Club statuses

As I mentioned above, if you have a Nordstrom credit card, you achieve three different status levels in the Nordy Club. This status can help you get earlier access to the anniversary sale.

The three status levels for Nordstrom cardholders are:

• INFLUENCER—entry level for a Nordstrom cardholder who spends less than $5,000 net on qualifying items at Nordstrom locations
• AMBASSADOR—minimum of $5,000 net spend on qualifying items at Nordstrom locations
• ICON—minimum of $15,000 net spend on qualifying items at Nordstrom locations using a Nordstrom card.

How do you check your Nordy Club status

Ahead of the anniversary sale, you’ll want to log into your Nordstrom account online and see what your status is. You may also get a postcard in the mail, like I did recently.

But as far as logging into your Nordy Club account, you’ll start by going to Nordstrom.com and logging into your account. Once you’re signed in, you’ll see a dropdown menu under your name. Go to the part that says Nordy Club Rewards. There you’ll see what your status is.

When can you preview the Nordstrom anniversary pre-sale

Keep in mind that in advance of all of this shopping, Nordstrom lets you preview the upcoming sale. That anniversary sale preview begins a few weeks before the sale starts.

What does the preview mean? Nordstrom releases the catalog for this year’s anniversary sale. You can get a sneak peek at what will be on sale and expected pricing for those items.

Since I’ve never shopped the preview, I had to find out how this works. Do you add those items to your cart and hope that the prices update when the anniversary sale kicks off? Well, no.

How to shop the anniversary sale preview

Here’s what you do: starting about two weeks before the sale begins, you browse the anniversary sale preview on Nordstrom.com. Then, you create a wish list of your favorite brands right in the Nordstrom app or on the website.

Finally, on the day that shopping opens — either based on your Nordy Club status or the public sale begins — you take everything from your wishlist and add it to your cart. That way you get the current sale prices.

It’s important that if you took the time to create this wishlist, add to cart at your earliest time possible. By the way, that wishlist lives on after the Anniversary Sale is over. In fact, this past holiday season, I got reminder emails from Nordstrom about items on my wishlist that were on sale.

You can back order sold out items

Nordstrom has made a big change to the anniversary sale this year. And that is this: you will be able to back order items from your wishlist that have sold out.

In the past, Nordstrom would not restock sold out items from the sale. It was a one and done kind of thing. You either shopped early enough to get what you wanted or you were SOL. Again, Nordstrom took customer feedback and changed how sold out items would be handled.

What’s not clear is this: if you do end up with a back ordered item, will you get it in the same time frame of other items you bought during the anniversary sale? Or will it arrive much later but still at the anniversary sale price?

Backorder for early access only

It appears that this backorder option is for those with early access only. However, Nordstrom has promised that it will be restocking popular items throughout the public portion of the sale.

If you happen to have something on your wishlist that goes out of stock, make sure you have the Nordstrom app on your phone and you have notifications enabled. Because Nordstrom will be using the app only to notify anniversary sale shoppers when something is back in stock.

If this happens, you can always buy it online and then pick it up through in-store pickup. You can do curbside or walk into the order pickup section of the store.

How long is the Nordstrom anniversary sale

In 2022, the anniversary sale was two weeks and a day long. In 2023, it was even longer. And in 2024 you get more time to shop once more. The public has almost three weeks to shop. Those with early access have almost four weeks to shop. Wow!

Is the Nordstrom anniversary sale happening in Canada

Yes, Nordstrom shoppers in Canada will have the chance to shop the anniversary sale. They’ll also get many of the same deals as American shoppers. 

Brands for the anniversary sale at Nordstrom

Last year, I attended a webinar for bloggers like me who are part of the Nordstrom affiliate network to get ready for this annual sale. During that webinar the host mentioned that Nordstrom was adding some 100 new brands to the anniversary offerings.

• Michael Kors
• Wacoal Bras
• Rebecca Minkoff
• Kendra Scott
• Hunter Boots
• Dyson Airwrap (it’s a favorite hair product of Peloton instructors)
• Vince Camuto
• Kate Spade
• Stuart Weitzman
• Patagonia
• Allen Edmonds
• Tumi
• Eileen Fisher
• Madewell
• Natori
• Olaplex
• Open Edit

During the sale, you can save as much as 50% on these brands. I can tell you that last year during the anniversary sale, I treated myself to a Tumi laptop backpack. It’s become one of my favorite bags.

So, this is last year’s information. Once they release the brands for 2024, I’ll update this section. Last year there were tons of beauty deals, including from brand La Mer.

Categories to shop during the sale

I’m told that some of the best deals can be found in these categories:

• Jeans and denim wear
• Workout clothing
• Booties
• Dresses
• Sandals
• Intimates and bras

Nordstrom is one of the best places to shop for wide width shoes for women and wide width shoes for men.

While Nordstrom doesn’t sell Hermes sandals, you can find plenty of lookalikes at the store, including a Hallie Slide Sandal by Patricia Green.

What is the Nordstrom anniversary sale return policy

Nordstrom has one of the best return policies of any brand out there. It’s one of the reasons I’ve included Nordstrom in my article about lifetime guarantees, even though it doesn’t have one per se.

What it does have is a generous return policy. Therefore, there is no reason you cannot return items that you bought at the anniversary sale.

Keep in mind that if you happen to be shopping at the Clear the Racks sale at Nordstrom Rack, not everything can be returned. This is especially true if something is marked final sale. Also, at Nordstrom Rack you have just 45 days to return something.

So, if you’ve shopped at the Rack and not the regular Nordstrom department store, keep this time limit in mind.

Do you get triple points during the Nordstrom anniversary sale

I’m not sure if Nordstrom makes earning extra points a benefit during the anniversary sale. However, I do know that as a cardholder and Nordy Club member, I can choose my extra points days.

That is, based on my status (Ambassador), I have three times a year when I can enable double points. So, normally you get one point for every dollar you spend. If I decided to make one of the anniversary sale days a double points day for me, then I’ll earn two points for every dollar I spend at Nordstrom.

However, in the end, I used my double points day when I worked with a Nordstrom personal stylist.

Final thoughts on the Nordstrom anniversary sale

If you haven’t gotten back to shopping in store yet, you can still take full advantage of the Nordstrom sale. Obviously, you can shop online on the website or the app, and have the products delivered to your home.However, Nordstrom is one of those stores that has buy online and pick up in store. There, you have two options.

One, you can walk into the store and get your purchase at the customer service desk. This is what it looks like at the Nordstrom store in Pittsburgh. Or, two, you can enable curbside pickup of your purchase. This page on the Nordstrom website explains it all.

I hope you have a great time shopping during the anniversary sale. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Finally, this article tells you on which holidays Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack are closed.