Amazon Prime Day is a summer sales event on Amazon websites around the world, where members of Amazon Prime get exclusive discounts on a wide range of items. Prime Day is one of the biggest retail holidays of the year. In 2020, over a million products will be discounted for Prime members on everything from tech and appliances to clothing and beauty. Prime Day is usually held in July. However, CNBC is reporting that, according to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon plans to delay its annual Prime Day event until September. According to insider sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the event will likely be pushed back to September because of coronavirus pandemic. And even though Amazon doesn’t publish the date far in advance, it’s still going to be a massive day for Amazon, as they expect a potential $100 million in revenue this year!
Every year, Prime Day seems to get bigger, better and longer. The event started in July of 2015 as a way to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary. It lasted for 24 hours and slashed prices on hundreds of items. The sale was held in 9 countries, including the U.S., UK, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria. The event was a big hit, and every year since, Prime Day has grown in duration and popularity. In 2017, the event was held for 30 hours. In 2018, it ran for 36 hours. And in 2019, it expanded to 48 hours and ran from July 15th through July 16th. Sales from the 2019 Prime Day event were higher than the sales during 2018’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined!
To shop on Prime Day, you will need to either sign up for a free 30-day trial or be an existing member of Amazon Prime, paying for the privilege of fast, free delivery. But be aware that receipt of some items may be delayed due to the fact that Amazon has seen increased demand for delivery of products due to COVID-19. In fact, three weeks ago, Amazon said it planned to hire 100,000 workers to assist with deliveries during the pandemic.
Why does Amazon have Prime Day? It’s a “thank you” to its paying members but also a way for Amazon to move more products and make more money. Last year, Amazon didn’t announce the Prime Day dates until the end of June, three weeks before the actual event, so we can expect the same timeline this year. With Prime Day still a couple months away, there’s nothing too pressing you can or need to do right now, other than to make sure you are a Prime member. The cost is $12.99/month or $119.00/year. Qualifying customers with an EBT or Medicaid card can take advantage of the 50% off Prime being offered right now and pay only $5.99/month. If you are a student, you can get a 6-month free trial of Prime Student and then pay only $6.49/month. Or, if you don’t want to join Prime now, just plan on starting your 30-day free trial in September.
Please Note: There is an important update to this post. Please see “Amazon Prime Day – Coming Soon!“
