Amazon Launches Prime Early Access Sale

Amazon.com is hosting another Prime Day-like deal event next month, marking the first time it will hold two such events in the same year. Dubbed the Prime Early Access Sale by Amazon, the two-day global shopping event is exclusive to Prime members. It begins Oct. 11 at 12 a.m. PDT and runs through Oct. 12 in 15 countries: Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S.

According to Amazon, "Prime Early Access Sale gives members a chance to kick off the holiday shopping season early with hundreds of thousands of deals." As part of the new deals event, Amazon is also introducing a Top 100 list of the season’s most popular items, and new deals from the list will drop throughout the event, offering savings across top categories such as electronics, fashion, home, kitchen, pets, toys, and Amazon devices.

Prime Day, which started in 2015, is typically held once a year during the summer. However, Amazon tweaked the timing of the event in 2020 and 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic strained its operations. The company also has experimented with other discount events, such as an apparel sale, a pet-focused event and a fall beauty event.

Total Retail's Take: By setting a deal event for October, Amazon is playing into a trend that’s gained momentum in recent years by major retailers: launching holiday promotions well ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And with talk of a potential recession looming, this trend will only continue as people look for deals earlier in case their economic situation worsens.

While the new sales event could help jump-start early holiday shopping for Amazon — and drive other retailers to follow suit with their promotions — some experts are skeptical that a second Prime Day will be much of a success.

"Amazon Prime Day has been a key way for the e-commerce giant to reach consumers and boost sales during a traditionally slower season," said Kelly Goetsch, chief strategy officer, commercetools, in a quote emailed to Total Retail. "[But ]2022 has proven that people are still drawn, and will always be drawn, to in-person shopping. In fact, the event has seen fewer sales in recent years — a sign that it may be past its prime. "