Amazon Prime Day sales may shrink if it's too close to Christmas
When the date is announced, brands will have to be prepared to 'pivot quickly'
The closer Amazon's Prime Day sales promotion comes to the holidays, the warier shoppers may become about spending, experts say.
The company's two-day event -- where Prime subscribers are offered a "parade of deals" -- is typically held in July. This year's Prime Day, however, has been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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While a new date has yet to be set, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to FOX Business that the event will occur within the last three months of the year, typically the most lucrative for retailers. Observers have speculated that it may be in October.
While the company will see strong traffic no matter what, the exact date will determine how much revenue the e-commerce behemoth garners, Peter Kearns, former Amazon executive and vice president of partnerships at Buy Box Experts, told FOX Business.
Amazon Prime day logo. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The company may run into problems the closer the day moves to the holidays, effectively competing with major shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to Kearns.
If that happens, he said, "consumers will be more conscious about how they spend their money."
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Comparatively, Amazon will see a "stronger response" if the event -- which Kearns dubbed the Christmas of July -- is held earlier this fall.
That would help to "spread out consumer buying" which will then "lessen the impact on associates around the holidays," Kearns said. There's always the risk, however, that the event might occur right after back-to-school shopping, which could erode sales.
Once Prime Day is announced, brands will need to be prepared to "pivot quickly" to prepare for a possible deluge of orders, he said.
In 2019, Prime Day became the largest shopping event in the company's history with sales surpassing Amazon's previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Overall, subscribers purchased more than 175 million items.
