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Workers retrieve boxes at an Amazon fulfillment center on Prime Day in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., on Monday, June 21, 2021.

Rachel Jessen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon will hold its annual Prime Day mega sale on July 11 and 12, the company announced Wednesday.

For the first time, Amazon will offer invite-only deals where members of its Prime subscription club can request an invitation to access discounts on items that typically sell out fast. Prime Day deals will also appear on other retailers’ websites through its Buy with Prime program, which enables third parties to add Amazon’s payment and fulfillment services to their own site.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015. The discount celebration is partially designed to secure new Prime subscribers, to promote Amazon’s products and services, and to provide a sales boost in the middle of the year. The event is also a big revenue driver for other retail sites like Target, Walmart and Best Buy, which typically offer competing discounts for customers. Best Buy on Wednesday announced a “Black Friday in July” event that will run from July 10 to 12, while Kohl‘s said it would hold a “Summer Cyber Deals” event July 11 to 12.

Last year, total online sales in the U.S. during Amazon’s Prime Day event surpassed $11.9 billion, which was higher than overall e-commerce transactions generated during the event in 2021, according to Adobe Analytics data.

Amazon last year broke with tradition and held a second Prime Day-like deal bonanza. It ran the “Prime Early Access Sale” last October in an attempt to drum up sales well ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Earlier this month, Amazon told sellers it was accepting submissions for a “Prime Fall Deal Event” that will begin in the fourth quarter, according to a notification viewed by CNBC. The notice doesn’t announce any dates for when the event will take place.

Amazon declined to comment.

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Walmart locked in 'winner sell all' battle against Amazon, says author Jason Del Rey

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Instacart shares drop on report that FTC is probing company over AI pricing tool

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Instacart shares drop on report that FTC is probing company over AI pricing tool

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Shares of grocery delivery service Instacart dropped about 7% in extended trading on Wednesday, following a report that said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun an investigation into the company’s pricing practices.

The FTC sent a civil investigative demand to Instacart, Reuters reported, citing unnamed people.

A study released last week showed that prices for the same products in the same supermarkets that work with Instacart can vary by around 7%, which can result in over $1,000 in extra annual costs for customers. Instacart responded by saying that retailers determine prices listed in the app.

In 2022, Instacart spent $59 million to acquire Eversight, a company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven pricing and promotions for retailers and consumer packaged goods. Instacart sought to “create compelling savings opportunities for customers in real-time” with Eversight, according to a regulatory filing.

The FTC and Instacart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read Reuters’ full report here.

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead ‘AGI’ group

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead 'AGI' group

Rohit Prasad, Senior VP & Head Scientist for Alexa, Amazon, on Centre Stage during day one of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ben McShane | Sportsfile | Getty Images

Rohit Prasad, a top Amazon executive overseeing its artificial general intelligence unit, is leaving the company at the end of this year, the company confirmed Wednesday.

As part of the move, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company is reorganizing the AGI unit under a more expansive division that will also include its silicon development and quantum computing teams. The new division will be led by Peter DeSantis, a 27-year veteran of Amazon who currently serves as a senior vice president in its cloud unit.

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