After weeks of anticipation, including a leak of the start date, Amazon has revealed that Prime Day 2018 will start on July 16 at 3 pm Eastern — and will run through July 18 until 3 am. With the extension, Prime Day will extend from 30 hours in 2017 to 36 hours.
After reeling in 60% more sales in 2017 than the previous year, the shopping day will feature 50% more “Spotlight Deals,” and more than one million deals globally, according to a company press release. While Amazon plans to offer promotions on its own devices such as the Echo, Fire TV and Fire tablet, the retailer also is planning private label sales including:
- 25% off furniture and décor from Rivet and Stone & Beam;
- Up to 20% off AmazonBasics items; and
- 30% off everyday essentials from Presto!, Mama Bear, Solimo and additional brands.
Additionally, Amazon is hosting global “unboxing” events in advance of Prime Day. The company will ship giant Smile boxes to Brooklyn, N.Y., Los Angeles, Milan, Tokyo and London, where they will be opened at events designed to highlight the music, video, gaming and other benefits that come with a Prime membership.
Advertisement
Prime Day has certainly made its presence felt throughout the retail industry since Amazon first hosted the shopping day on July 15, 2015. While the first Prime Day may have delivered underwhelming shopping deals, it generated a 266% global increase in order growth and gave the e-Commerce giant plenty of room to improve the offering. Two years later, Amazon cut into its rivals’ e-Commerce market share during Prime Day 2017, according to data from Slice Intelligence. Walmart saw its share fall from 2.1% to 1.0%, and Target declined from 1.5% to 0.9% during the event.
“Amazon’s announcement ratchets up the pressure on all of retail, with ‘counter measures’ sure to negatively impact margins throughout the sector,” stated Charlie O’Shea, Lead Retail Analyst at Moody’s in commentary provided to Retail TouchPoints. “More so than ever, we expect other retailers to roll out a heavy dose of promotions ahead, during, and after Prime Day in hopes of attracting shoppers and dollars, with some of the more challenged retailers facing the tough decision of how low to go. With Whole Foods now in the picture, we expect Prime Day promotions to extend deep into the food sector, pressuring food retailers for the first time.”
At Whole Foods, Prime members will receive 10% off hundreds of sales items in the grocery chain’s stores. Members who use the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa to pay for their purchases will receive 10% back on purchases up to $400 from July 14-17.
