Annual Prime Day Sale 20’: Amazon’s Response to COVID19
April is here, and that means Amazon Prime Day is roughly three months away. Despite major tech companies canceling their annual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon is moving full steam ahead with this year’s Prime Day shopping extravaganza, even as it grapples with the pandemic.
Quick Facts:
Amazon is inviting sellers and vendors to submit deals for this year’s Prime Day. Emails sent to the vendors said that they should be ready to ship their Prime Day inventory to Amazon warehouses by May, as purchase orders will be placed from as early as March 31. According to another email: for the Amazon Lightning Deals, the deadline to submit is May 8 and an extra $500 per deal is required.
It is the sixth year of Amazon Prime Day, a 48-hour sale that gives Prime members exclusive access to sitewide discounts. Prime Day deals include price drops on everything from the Echo Dot to the MacBook Air and has become a massive juggernaut for Amazon, and Amazon Prime Day 2020 is projected to be no different.
Amazon is sending invitations to sellers and vendors to submit deals for this year’s Prime Day. This could mean that Amazon is anticipating that the supply chain is going to normalize within a few weeks. However, some sellers are skeptical about Prime Day getting postponed as they are still trying to fix the supply chain issues. This is according to leaked emails obtained by Business Insider.
It is a surprise that Amazon is already preparing for the big event this year. However, holding the event in July would be a massive undertaking for Amazon when the pandemic has strained its operations. This could prove to be a big setback for the company.
In contrast, the big sale could boost the businesses if the spread slowly starts tailing off. This could be seen as a test case for economic recovery by analyzing the volume of sales the event will generate. Thus, it will be very interesting to watch if this is Amazon’s approach further to planning its strategy for the Prime Day Sale or postpone it if required. Or is Amazon actually bringing “Christmas in July“?
As told to Business Insider, the company hasn’t made “any announcements about Prime Day.” (an Amazon spokesperson). It also said, “We remain focused on ensuring the safety of our associates and serving our customers while evaluating future plans.”
