Introduced in 2015 in honor of Amazon’s 20th anniversary, Prime Day has become an annual smorgasbord of shopping deals on par with Black Friday. Accessible exclusively by Prime members (but who doesn’t have a Prime membership these days?), it was initially held for only 24 hours, but its popularity caused Amazon to expand it to two days.
Unlike Black Friday, which, although now a week-long event, is still the same day every year, the exact date of Prime Day has proven to not be set in stone. Although it was initially held on July 15, it was on July 12 in 2016 and July 11 in 2017. In 2018, it was moved to July 16 so as to not conflict with the World Cup Final. It returned to its original date of July 15 in 2019 but was expanded to two days, while in 2020, Amazon pushed the event back to October 13 and 14 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this year the shopping extravaganza was expected to return to its July dates, Recode recently announced that sources have revealed that Prime Day 2021 may very well come early — in June!
While Amazon moved Prime Day to October in 2020 because of the logistical problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is less clear why they might move it this year. There is some speculation that it could be an attempt to boost second-quarter sales in comparison to last year’s figures for the same quarter. June is in the second quarter, while July starts the third quarter, and in 2020, Amazon’s second quarter was up by 40% as a result of lockdown splurging. Other theories include wanting to hold the event before the results of a vote by Amazon workers in Alabama to unionize is tallied.
With Prime Day featuring hundreds of deals over the span of 48 hours, you can find just about anything on sale — and often cheaper than you’ve ever seen it before! Of course, sometimes some deals are too good to be true, with merchants trying to unload old stock, but just as common are amazing limited offers that needed to be snatched up before they disappear. A sure bet is that you will find Amazon’s own products — Echo devices, Fire tablets, Kindles, and Fire TV sticks — at the best prices of the year. Not to be outdone, other retailers may try to steal some of Amazon’s fire (no pun intended) with deals of their own so keep your eye out for those bargains as well.
Update: After this article was published, an Amazon spokesperson declined to confirm the official Prime Day 2021 date, but stated, “Prime Day will be set without regard to Wall Street.”
