Amazon’s very different Prime Day could give Black Friday a later consideration

This is part of the story Amazon Prime Day, CNET’s guide to what you need to know and how to make sure you get the best deal.

Last year’s Amazon Prime Day TV ad featured geometric cartoon townspelogs – who built their trucks, parade floats and houses out of Amazon delivery boxes – in an upbeat parade, showcasing fashion, household goods and all the great deals. Electronics. In 2020, the background is a suburban neighborhood where the same fictional characters are at home, socially watching a projector movie from a distance in the back yard or celebrating a new shipment of pajamas. People on the street wear masks.

That’s right, Amazonville also seems to be haunted by the COVID-19L downdown, which sheds light on what has changed completely. Prime Day That will be in 2020.

“Years ago on Amazon, they were promoting Prime Day as a celebration. It was a more upbeat tone,” said Sara Scribbell, a shopping and trends expert at deal site Retellum otnut. “This year it will be different, it will be more practical – more people need what they want and less things they want.”

There’s no rulebook on how to throw out a giant company-discovered sales event during an epidemic, but Amazon is going with it Prime Day Coming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. That grief b, social unrest and a sour economy and a world engulfed in the novel coronavirus must set the right tone for the U.S. surrounded. Consumers will find an early boom in holiday shopping and hopefully have the opportunity to save on household necessities, such as home entertainment and perhaps toilet paper.

It will be an important opportunity for Amazon to show how it can help customers save money during the economic downturn and support small businesses on its platform while facing a series of distrust investigations into the power it runs over very small businesses.

Prime Day is also believed to be a huge money maker for e-commerce gambling, bringing in 9. 9.9 billion worldwide in just 48 hours, according to researcher e-marketer. Which is an increase of 43% over last year and will mark the largest Prime Day ever (although that record is broken every year).

But some of the biggest beneficiaries could be brick-and-mortar merchants, who are pushing their sales to coincide with Prime Day in hopes of getting an economic boost during a difficult year filled with retail bankruptcy.

Changing times

The biggest change to Prime Day this year is its timing. Otherwise sales are usually held in the summer to extend the retail season. It was delayed to October this year so Amazon could respond to the increase in orders online during the epidemic and reclaim its warehouse from the new safety protocol to protect its workers.

Andrew Lipsman, Emarketer’s retail analyst, said the focus would be on: focusing on summer and back-to-school products and making the event an early lead-in during the holiday season,

Many retailers are expected to offer some of their lowest prices during Prime Day, so they can boost holiday sales and snatch customers from Amazon, Retailmanote said. Walmart, Targets and Excellent purchase Prime Day has also announced Black Friday-like discounts, making the sale an unofficial start to holiday shopping.

Retail experts urge consumers to buy items as early as possible to avoid out-of-stock items, especially during epidemics this year due to supply chain disruptions and delays in delivery due to further shipline shipments.

Acknowledging the difficulty of 2020, Amazon is emphasizing its social awareness so that it can present Prime Day as a platform to help others, not just to sell mountains of rhombus and huge tubs of Vaseline. If you spend $ 10 on a small business on Amazon’s site before Prime Day, the e-retailer will give you a credit of 10 10 to spend during the sales event. Amazon is also promoting its charitable giving feature, Amazon Smile.

“That’s not the purpose of Prime Day,” Lipsman said of these attempts to give back. “I think the context is very different these days and they have to be aware of that.”

Chris McCabe, founder and former employee of Amazon, an e-commerce consultant and Amazon sales consultant, said Amazon would definitely benefit from Prime Day, but said the sel online seller has seen the first increase in sales in a whole year. With that in mind, he said, Amazon doesn’t need to make really big sales.

“In October, people are already shopping for Christmas, so you don’t have to increase sales,” he said. “Everything has been enhanced throughout the year, all week, all month.”

Stimulation potential

With the holidays so close Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday can take some omf, as more customers buy their holidays early. But that holiday season sales are still huge and expect a lot of discounts.

One of the reasons consumers can wait to buy for the holidays is a huge one Federal stimulus plan It is still being negotiated and may be approved before the end of the year. Stimulus checks sent to Americans in previous April are a big boost to retailers and the economy, as consumers bought plenty of clothing, appliances, electronics and more.

The second Excitement, While uncertainty due to ample elections and an unexpected president could have a big impact on Black Friday, which falls on November 27 if it comes on time.

After all the sales are done and the delivery boxes are opened, it is hoped that on Prime Day 2021, Denizens of Amazonville will be able to come out safely for a parade full of crates with Bezos Boulevard. But for now, enjoy pajamas.