Get in line: Bath and Body Works 3-wick candles are on sale, and customers are virtually queuing up for as long as 30 minutes

• Bath and Body Works is putting online customers looking to buy discounted 3-wick candles in a virtual line.
• The chain's annual candle sales are popular and often sell out.

Bath and Body Works is holding its annual candle day sale, and customers have to wait in line before they can even access the website and start shopping.

The large three-wick candles are available for $10.25, more than 60% off their typical price of $25.50. Though still a large discount, this year's candle day is slightly pricier than last year's sale price of $9.95, according to USA Today.

The virtual line puts customers in a kind-of online holding room until it's their turn to shop. According to the store's explanation, shoppers can keep their place in line even if they close the website, as long as cookies are enabled. They can also sign up with their email address to be alerted when it's there turn to shop. Once you're let into the shop, you have ten minutes to start browsing before you're booted to the back of the line.

The online sale started at 6 a.m. ET, and at around 9:30 the wait was 24 minutes, Insider found. The sale will continue as long as supplies last, the retailer said. The deal is also available in Bath and Body Works stores, many of which opened early on Friday.

Black Friday sales were flat this year compared to 2020 and on the lower end of estimates, but specialty retailers like Bath and Body Works still managed to do well. In a visit to a mall in Rochester, New York, on Black Friday, Insider found Bath and Body Works was packed in the mostly empty shopping center.

Specialty stores like Bath and Body Works have discounts enticing enough to draw customers into stores moreso than big box retailers, GlobalData Retail analyst Neil Saunders told Insider. The chain has built customer excitement around annual events like the three-wick sale and buy three get three to draw in customers both in stores and online.

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