For Amazon (AMZN) converts, Prime Day is the equivalent of Christmas, Hanukkah and every other major holiday -- many wait all year to purchase household items like mattresses and blenders while some even create spreadsheets of what they plan to get to maximize shopping opportunities.
The day of deep discounting was established in 2015 to celebrate the e-commerce giant's 20th anniversary and traditionally takes place in the summer. Last July, Prime Day shoppers bought over 300 million items for a total of $11.9 billion.
2022 was also the year that Amazon broke from it being an annual tradition and hosted a second "Prime Early Access Sale" in October. The concept was the same and two days worth of sales brought in around $6 billion.
While Black Friday is hardly unique to Amazon, the company is launching another two-day sales event for the year's busiest shopping day.
On November 24 and 25, Amazon will be slashing prices on everything from HP (HPQ) laptops and Hasbro (HAS) toys to Peloton (PTON) clothes and equipment.
Black Friday May Have Already Started
"Customers will find deep discounts on top brands including YETI, Savage X Fenty with Rihanna, Sweaty Betty, Moroccanoil, Pokémon, and Bose," Amazon said in a statement announcing its Black Friday sales. "Surprise deals will drop every 30 minutes during select periods of the event from customers' most-wanted brands, like Samsung (SSNLF) , HP, Hasbro, adidas (ADDDF) , and Calvin Klein."
Some deals, including those on Amazon products like the Echo voice assistant and Ring doorbells, have already started. But the bulk of the deals will take place during those 24 hours following Thanksgiving -- on both days, a new promotion will be dropped every 30 minutes so that those who log in will get hit with an immediate promotion to look into..
For decades, Black Friday has been the biggest shopping day of the year -- many remember the stampedes inside Best Buy (BBY) taking place every day at malls across the country at the start of the last decade.
But in recent years, the trend has moved away from individual days and toward constant sales and discounts. If one missed a given sales day, there always seems to be another one not long after.
Cyber Week," or the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, is expected by Adobe (ADBE) to bring in $34.8 billion in sales this year.
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During Inflation, More And More Shoppers Are Waiting For Discounts
"These major shopping days are losing prominence as e-commerce becomes a more ubiquitous daily activity, and as consumers see discounts continuing throughout the full season," Adobe said in a statement.
But while sales dates are steadfastly becoming less significant, that does not mean that individual buyers are not looking to save money at a time of inflation. Adobe predicts online discounts to be at a record high of 32% this holiday season while electronics will be discounted by an average of 27% -- a steep increase from the 8% seen in 2021.
Toys and apparel are expected to be discounted by an average 22% and 19% respectively. Many retailers are tailoring to consumer desire for discounts -- both by actually dropping prices and by creating a have-to-get-it-now illusion around certain shopping periods.
"These moments will offer greater flexibility to consumers who need to manage their budgets in new ways this year," Adobe said.
