Mark your calendars. Amazon has finally announced the dates for Amazon Prime Day 2020. The company’s biggest membership sale of the year will be October 13 and 14, starting at midnight Pacific Time on the 13th. Prime Day is usually held in July, but COVID-19 interrupted Amazon’s plans.
The company will offer savings and discounts on more than 1 million deals across every category, including toys, TVs, electronics, fashion, beauty, kitchen, home and more. Prime Day is available to Prime members located in the U.S., U.K., UAE, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Turkey and Brazil.
Focus is on supporting small businesses
Though the official Amazon Prime Day 2020 sale days are two weeks away, Amazon is already offering promotional deals and discounts to Prime members with a special focus on supporting small businesses.
“In the midst of an unprecedented year, we’re committed to making this the most successful Prime Day ever for our small businesses and excited for Prime members worldwide to discover new ways to support local entrepreneurs and save big on everything they need and love,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer.
“To further our commitment to helping small businesses during COVID-19 and beyond, this Prime Day, and throughout the holiday season, we will spend more than $100 million on new promotional activities to help small businesses around the world increase their sales and reach new customers,” the company added.
Among the early deals is a $10 credit to members who buy products from select businesses from now through October 12. Members can find more information about early deals in the company’s news release. In addition to the online deals, Amazon’s physical retails stores are also featuring deals and in-store promotions at Whole Foods Market, Amazon 4-star, Amazon Books, Amazon Pop Up and Amazon Fresh.
Tips for getting the best deals
On the dedicated Amazon Prime Day 2020 page on its website, the popular online retailer shares tips and tricks for people to ensure they get the best deals.
Tip #1: Sign up to get alerts on your favorite items.
Tip #2: Look for badges in the Amazon marketplace to identify Prime Day deals.
Tip #3: Access deals on Amazon.com, via the Amazon mobile app or using Alexa.
Tip #4: Ask Alexa for suggestions for personalized Prime Day deals.
Tip #5: Use the Amazon Assistant to compare products and pricing.
Other perks of Amazon Prime membership
Amazon also uses its dedicated Amazon Prime Day 2020 page to remind members of all the other perks of a Prime membership which costs $119 per year if paid annually, or $12.99 per month if paid monthly. Here are a few of the benefits Prime members get, besides discounts and free shipping:
- Amazon Prime Video is included. Subscribing to Prime Video separately costs $8.99 a month.
- Amazon Music – stream more than 2 million songs, thousands of playlists and stations
- Prime Wardrobe – try on clothes, jewelry and accessories in your home and pay only for what you keep
- Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh – special discounts and savings when shopping online via Amazon Fresh or at Whole Foods
- Prime Reading – borrow ebooks and magazine from the Prime Reading library to read on your Amazon Fire tablet
- Prime Gaming – free games, in-game content and a free Twitch channel
Not a member? No problem. Amazon is allowing non-subscribers to sign up and participate in Prime Day during their 30-day free trial period.
Prime Day 2019 was held July 15 and 16, 2019, and it was the biggest sales event ever up to that point for Amazon Devices. Members in 18 countries bought more than 175 million different items, including everything from clothing and electronics to groceries and beauty products. Members, including trial members, saved more than $1 billion, and small- and medium-sized companies exceeded more than $2 billion in sales.
Insider Take
For Prime members, Prime Day is like Christmas in July – except this year it is in October. Though the event has been postponed, the event will likely be welcome for all concerned. Businesses who sell via Amazon will generate much-needed revenue, consumers will save while shopping safely from their homes, and Amazon will generate revenue, reward members, and draw attention to the value of an Amazon Prime membership which helps with retention.
