Amazon to hold Black-Friday-like sale today
12 Jul 2016
Last summer, Amazon.com tried a novel idea: It promised shoppers a Black Friday-like sale in the dead of summer, one that would only be accessible to members of its Prime programme.
E-commerce giant, Amazon.com is holding its second Prime Day after it started a Black Friday-like sale in the dead of summer. The programme would be accessible only to members of its Prime programme.
The event to be held today, would effectively serve as a test of whether the deals bonanza could become a regular ritual for shoppers to attract new Prime members and ring up big sales.
Amazon had been pushing to generate hype for Prime Day and since 5 July, it had been offering daily a small number of ''countdown'' deals on items such as vacuums, protein supplements and laptops.
Under its tie-up with Prime Music streaming service, it was running a contest in which customers could enter to meet-and-greet artists such as country singer Carrie Underwood and rapper Flo Rida. It had also promised to serve up 100,000 deals on the big day across almost all product categories, including Fire tablets for $33.33 and a Samsung Blu-ray player for $49.99.
According to commentators, Amazon had good reason to drum up interest in Prime Day, considering last year's event, saw customers purchase 34.4 million items - more than any other Black Friday in the company's history to that point.
Last summer, Amazon.com tried a novel idea - it promised shoppers a Black Friday-like sale in the dead of summer, one that would only be accessible to members of its Prime program.
Meanwhile, competitors such as Wal-Mart are responding in kind by offering their own megadeals and free shipping options, a sign that there existed a demand for a shopping day in the midst of the usually lackluster summer.
''Amazon may have created a new shopping holiday, but they're not the only ones profiting from it,'' says Benjamin Glaser, editor at DealNews, a comparison-shopping website that tracked deals and discounts, The Seattle Times reported.
