Amazon Will Reportedly Offer Early Black Friday Deals Starting October 26 But the etailer will surely offer other deals in the immediate run-up to Black Friday.
By Daniel Keyes •
This story originally appeared on Business Insider
The etailer will start offering early Black Friday deals on October 26, a month before Black Friday occurs on November 27, Tamebay reports. The promotion will offer consumers deals on a variety of products up until November 19, but Amazon will surely offer other deals in the immediate run-up to Black Friday.
Additionally, consumers can participate in Amazon's early Black Friday sales without an Amazon Prime account, even though they needed one to access Amazon's pre-Black Friday sales in the past, helping it reach all holiday shoppers who turn to ecommerce this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And because Amazon may run its annual Prime Day sales event in early October, the etailer is set to be a major sales presence throughout Q4 this year. Prime Day generally occurs in July, but Amazon has pushed it back due to the pandemic; it may take place on October 5.
If Prime Day takes place in early October, just weeks before its early Black Friday deals, Amazon could position itself as a destination consumers turn to for deals through Q4. This would set it up to shatter its online sales records, since Q4 is historically its strongest retail sales quarter and the pandemic has caused its ecommerce business to surge.
Running sales events early in Q4 will be key to Amazon's ecommerce success this holiday season due to a new level of online competition and potential fulfillment challenges.
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- Retailers are set to focus their holiday efforts online in the wake of the pandemic and Amazon's move to start sales early. Top retailers including Best Buy, Target, and Walmart are closing their stores on Thanksgiving this year to limit the risk of crowds visiting stores to shop Thanksgiving Weekend deals, forcing them to emphasize ecommerce during the major sales period. And Prime Day will likely draw competing sales events in October since the event has attracted rivals in the past. These factors should increase competition for Amazon's ecommerce business, so blanketing Q4 in sales events may help it stand out from other etailers and attract consumers.
- The holiday season could bring an unprecedented order volume and create fulfillment issues for Amazon, but spreading deals out throughout the quarter should limit problems. Amazon was able to handle a spike in demand caused by the pandemic in Q2 because that's typically its weakest quarter for retail volume, which gave it room to expand its operations and handle more orders. Amazon likely won't have room to expand in Q4 since it's generally Amazon's biggest sales quarter, potentially leading to delayed deliveries that'll frustrate customers. But by pushing holiday deals in October, Amazon may be able to spread demand throughout the quarter, allowing it to deliver more orders on time.
