Report: Amazon Prime Day postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic
Prime Day, Amazon’s annual e-commerce extravaganza, will be postponed at least until August, according to Reuters. Additionally, Reuters reports, Amazon expects to lost $100 million from excess devices it will likely have to sell at a discount. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to drive sales during the relatively slow summer months. Last year, Amazon held Prime Day for 48 hours in mid-July, with sales surpassing Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
The midsummer sales event has become a key way for Amazon to recruit new members to its Prime subscription program. It also gives Amazon a way to promote sales of its Echo devices — bringing more customers into the Alexa-enabled smart home ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has become a large enough event that it’s influenced the retail industry. Last year, other retailers launched their own sales promotions to compete with Prime Day, with the largest retailers walking away with significant sales bumps.
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Article source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/report-amazon-prime-day-postponed-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/#ftag=RSSbaffb68