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Will Amazon postpone Prime Day over coronavirus?

Amazon will postpone its premier Prime Day shopping event — at least according to one report.

So when is Prime Day? The shopping event will be pushed back until at least August, according to notes from an internal meeting obtained by Reuters. The major shopping event was started in 2015 and generally occurs each July.

The online shopping giant is also expecting to suffer a $100 million loss from extra devices it’ll have to sell at a discount, Reuters reported. The news agency mentioned 5 million extra devices that Amazon would have sold during Prime Day, such as its suite of voice-controlled Echo speakers.

“We probably have to promote sooner, which will be difficult if we’re capacity constrained,” General Counsel David Zapolsky wrote in notes from a daily meeting of Amazon executives.

Amazon declined a request from Digital Trends for comment.

The postponement would mark a major shift by Amazon to address the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Amazon recently extended return windows for its sales into May, banned the sale of face masks to customers in order to send supplies to hospitals in need, and prioritized shipping “essential products” like medical supplies.

The online retailer has also come under fire for its treatment of workers, with some at a New York warehouse launching a strike earlier this week. Amazon responding by promising greater safety measures for workers — but also reportedly fired the worker who organized the strike for allegedly violating an order to self-quarantine.

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Paul is the News Editor at Digital Trends. Before joining DT, Paul spent 3 years as an editor on the New York Post's digital…
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