In a nutshell: Amazon has confirmed plans to host a second major sales event for Prime subscribers later this year. The member-exclusive shopping extravaganza will be held in October, but that's about all we know at this hour. Amazon's announcement was short and sweet, with the e-commerce giant promising to share more information about Prime Big Deal Days as the date approaches.
Last year, Amazon hosted a second major sales event following its usual mid-summer Prime Day festivities. That event, dubbed the Prime Early Access Sale, started on October 11 and ran through the following day.
Hosting a second Prime Day event seemed like a gamble, especially being so close to traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Conversely, it gave the company an opportunity to cater to early birds that like to get their holiday shopping done early, and also allowed the company to move out old inventory to make room for newer products.
The trial must have been a success, otherwise Amazon would not bother running it back again. It also gives Amazon yet another opportunity to attract more sign-ups for Prime, which now commands $139 per year.
Amazon's summer-based Prime Day continues to impress. During last month's event, customers purchased more than 375 million items worldwide. In fact, the first day of the two-day sale was the single largest sales day in Amazon's history. Amazon didn't post hard financials but according to Adobe Analytics, total spending across Prime Day 2023 reached $12.7 billion in the US alone – an increase of 6.1 percent year over year.
Amazon said Prime Big Deal Days will be held in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the US, and the UK.
Should it again prove successful, one has to wonder if Amazon will consider hosting a big sales event earlier in the year. An event centered around tax return time could be massive in the US.
Image credit: Claudio Schwarz