When Is Amazon Prime Day 2022?
Amazon Prime Day landed in June last year and October the year before. Amazon just let us know it will drop in July this year. But what date?
Bargain hunters know the annual Amazon Prime Day retailpalooza as an opportunity to score a bevy of deals on all manner of merchandise. That's why they eagerly await the two-day event.
While specific dates haven’t yet been announced, we at least now know the month for Amazon Prime Day 2022: July, per a press release about Amazon’s first-quarter earnings. We expect it to be around July 18-19. a Monday and Tuesday, if Amazon stays true to form. Look for formal confirmation of the dates about a month out.
Amazon Prime Day dates back to 2015, when it was debuted in July to juice sales during retail’s summer doldrums. But even when Amazon Prime Day was moved to October in 2020 because of pandemic issues, Amazon posted record Prime Day sales and ended up kicking off the holiday shopping season a month early.
Amazon Prime Day returned to its summer slot in 2021, but in June, not July. And it was another resounding success, culminating in sales exceeding $11 billion.
That gave a boost to Amazon's second quarter earnings in 2021. That won't happen this year; the July date falls in Amazon's third quarter. To that end, the retailer on Thursday offered lower-than-expected second quarter revenue guidance in part because of the plan to move Prime Day 2022 from June to July. Amazon's first-quarter revenue rose 7% on a year-over-year basis – the slowest pace in 20 years.
What to Expect from Amazon Prime Day 2022
Prime Day in 2022 should offer better deals than ever as Amazon responds to stepped-up competition from Walmart, Target, and even Costco (in some cases) offering free shipping and same-day in-store pickup. Other online retailers, answering the demands of customers choosing online shopping during the pandemic, have also stepped-up with free (or close to it) shipping.
Another reason Amazon might beef up its Amazon Prime Day offerings: to mollify customers irked by rising fees. Membership fees for Amazon Prime are rising by 17%, to $139 a year and $14.99 a month (a $180 hit for monthly subscribers).
In past years, Prime Day has offered its biggest discounts on Amazon’s proprietary gadgets — including Echo personal assistance devices (“Alexa…”), Fire TV sticks, Kindles and their ilk — plus a flea-market array of baubles, gewgaws and bric-a-brac from other vendors large and small, as well as items from Amazon’s Whole Foods supermarket chain. That range has led naysayers to dub Prime Day as Amazon’s version of a garage sale: a lot of (sometimes silly) unsold inventory with an occasional true treasure mixed in.
Many Prime Day deals will be posted on Amazon.com weeks in advance of Prime Day, and some can be preordered by Prime members. Nonmembers can sign up for a free 30-day trial to tap the sales on Amazon Prime Day 2022. Not satisfied? Cancel the membership before you have to start paying for it.
