Amazon Prime Day: The Logic Behind A Retailer's Made-Up Holiday

Amazon.com is taking an interesting approach to its birthday this year. The company is throwing itself a party where all its Prime customers get the gifts. Amazon Prime Day is slated for July 15, “a one-day shopping event with more deals than Black Friday,” held ostensibly to celebrate the company’s success over its 20-year existence. But Sunil Gupta, an expert on marketing and digital technology who wrote a recent case study on Amazon, sees deeper motives behind the company creating its own Christmas in July.