Amazon Prime Day 2, this time dubbed Big Deal Days, is now set for Oct. 10-11, the company announced, with the fall version now appearing to be a locked-in flash sale event catering to bargain-seeking shoppers who seemingly can’t get enough during the July extravaganza.
And once again, Walmart and Target will be staging competing sales event to coincide with and crash Amazon’s discount party.
Amazon’s 48-hour shopping event next month will be held in 19 countries, including the U.S., the UK, Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia, with new deals dropping at times every five minutes. Among other things, Prime members can sign up for deal alerts and access to invite-only offers that are expected to sell out.
Target is front-running Amazon with the return of Target Circle Week, being held from Oct. 1-7. It features deep discounts on thousands of items, and Target Circle loyalty members get up to 40% off on some items.
Ahead of the event, the retailer is also rolling out a new partnership with Austin-based Kendra Scott for its latest store-in-store concept featuring an exclusive collection of 200 items, most under $40. It joins Disney, Apple, British chain Marks & Spencer and Ulta Beauty as Target in-store partners.
Walmart Deals – Holiday Kickoff runs from Oct. 9-12, with discounts across a range of categories, the company said, including personalized offers and a curated selection of deals. In addition to curbside pickup and same-day delivery, Walmart will be featuring its new late-night delivery, until 10 p.m., something even Amazon doesn’t offer.
While there could be a number of reasons why Amazon continues to run its twice-yearly sales events, taking others in its wake – the opportunity to push its own branded products, discounting to clear out stocks and make room for Q4 merchandise – it could be a case of, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
“It sounds like it was successful when they did it before, so why not again?” said Forrester analyst Sucharita Kodali. “It seems as simple as that.”