Get All Access for $5/mo

Amazon Is Bringing Back 'Prime Day,' a Day of Shopping With Special Deals Every 5 Minutes Starting at midnight PT on July 12 , Amazon Prime members will be able to shop across nearly all product categories and take advantage of new deals.

By Eugene Kim

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Twin Design | Shutterstock.com

Amazon just announced the date for the second annual "Prime Day," a day of shopping that will have more than 100,000 special deals worldwide exclusively offered to its paid Prime members.

Starting at midnight on July 12 (PT), Amazon Prime members will be able to shop across nearly all product categories and take advantage of new deals that Amazon promises to have as often as every 5 minutes throughout the day.

All new and existing Prime members in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium and Austria are eligible for Prime Day offers.Prime is Amazon's paid membership program that offers free two-day shipping and unlimited access to a bunch of Amazon services, including streaming video and music. It costs $99 a year or $10.99 a month.

Amazon launched Prime Day for the first time last year. It ended up becoming Amazon's biggest sales day ever, with 34.4 million items ordered in a single day, breaking the sales record set on the previous year's Black Friday. Some sellers said their sales nearly quadrupled on Prime Day, with one vendor claiming to have sold $16,000 worth of products every hour.

This year's Prime Day is expected to be even bigger than last year's. Amazon says it will double the number of TV units available compared to what it typically has on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

"Following last year's record sales, we have dramatically increased the inventory behind many deals," VP of Amazon Prime Greg Greeley said in a statement. "Even with this massive selection we know many of the Prime Day offers will sell out, so members should download the Amazon shopping app to receive notifications on their favorite deals."

To promote this year's Prime Day, Amazon will run countdown deals from July 5 through July 11, including TV and Fire Stick discount offers. It's also running special promotions around its Prime Music and Photo services.

This year's Prime Day is likely going to be another record-breaking sales day, but Amazon's real intent behind the special shopping day may be in expanding its Prime member base. Prime members are known for spending more time and money on Amazon than non-Prime members, with their spending now accounting for nearly 60% of the total value of goods sold on the site.

Eugene Kim

Business Insider Reporter

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

At Age 15, He Used Facebook Marketplace to Start a Side Hustle — Then It Became Something Much Bigger: 'Raised Over $1.6 Million'

Dylan Zajac, now a 21-year-old senior at Babson College, wanted to bridge the digital divide.

Side Hustle

'I Just Hustled': She Earned More Than $300,000 Wrapping Gifts Last Year — and It All Started With a Side Hustle

When Michelle Hensley lost her husband to cancer, she needed to figure out how to earn an income for her family.

Franchise

McDonald's Announces the Return of the Snack Wrap in 2025 — Here's What to Expect From Its Comeback

The decision comes after years of persistent customer demand for the portable snack, which debuted nearly two decades ago.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

OpenAI Just Released Its Text-to-Video Generator, Sora. Here's How the New AI Could Impact Small Businesses and Creators.

Sora has a variety of use cases for businesses, from social media campaigns to video creation.

Innovation

These Entrepreneurs Created a League That Turns Gamers Into Pro Race Car Drivers: 'We're Giving Drivers a Sustainable Career Path'

Racing Prodigy's innovative E2Real sports league is lowering the high-cost barrier to entry for drivers to take their passion to the track.