Amazon says Prime Day will run July 11 and 12, introduces invite-only deals

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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