Call it Amazon Prime Day-and-a-Half.
Prime Day, the Seattle-based digital behemoth’s biggest annual shopping event, last year generated $1 billion in gross merchandise value. GMV this year is expected to surpass that, with Amazon on Tuesday revealing that the July 17 and 18 event will last six hours longer for a total of 36 hours and feature 50 percent more merchandise than in 2017, and extend to Amazon-owned Whole Foods, which will offer its own deals.
Savings will extend across categories such as fashion, furniture, home, toys, back-to-school supplies, smart home products and everyday essentials. And like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have started earlier and earlier and extended longer, Prime Day is also doing “the creep.” Experts said the event will begin as early as two weeks before and last as long as a week after, creating almost a month of deals. Prime Day is having an impact on back-to-school shopping behavior with retailers such as competitor Walmart using it as an opportunity to tap into consumers’ penchant for deals.
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Amazon on Tuesday unveiled immediate savings on Echo Show with a $100 discount; Rivet and Stone & Beam furniture and décor, up to 20 percent off, and Amazon Basics, Mama Bear and Solimo, 30 percent off. For a preview of the deals, shoppers can tap the Prime Day banner within the Amazon app from July 9 to July 15 to see select products.
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Prime Day, Amazon’s answer to Alibaba’s Singles Day — the world’s largest shopping event with sales of $25.4 billion in 2017 — is dedicated to its Prime members, who pay a $99 annual fee, which in May was increased to $119 for new members, entitling them to special offers and perks such as free two-day shipping.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive officer, boasted in April that the retailer has 100 million Prime members worldwide. This year’s Prime Day will have an international flavor as consumers in the U.K., Spain, Mexico, Japan, India, Italy, France, Canada, Belgium, Austria, and new this year Australia, Singapore, Netherlands and Luxembourg shop the sale.
Prime is the most important lever fueling Amazon’s dominant online retail model, with members spending more annually than nonmembers. However, Prime is very costly for Amazon given the increase from 20 million in 2014 to the 100 million orders it now ships to members. The digital giant last week said it will begin helping entrepreneurs start their own delivery businesses in order to build a lower cost network.
To promote Prime Day, giant boxes bearing the Amazon smile logo will be opened at events in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and Milan, revealing hundreds of brands, exclusive items, content and special-edition products that will be available during Prime Day. Those who aren’t Prime members but want to participate in Prime Day can start a 30-day free trial, Amazon said.
Here’s what will be different about Amazon Prime Day 2018:
- 50 percent more merchandise than last year’s event
- 50 percent more Spotlight deals
- Amazon-owned Whole Foods will take part in Prime Day
- Event will last six hours longer, or 36 hours
- Double the number of deals on Amazon devices
- Find deals organized by more than 40 of the most-shopped-for interests, from style and fashion to electronics, cooking, travel and more
- Exclusive and special-edition products from hundreds of established and emerging brands