Retailers Starting Holiday Promotions Alongside Amazon Prime Day

Several major retailers have signaled that they're using Amazon Prime Day 2020, which runs today and tomorrow, as the starting point to begin their holiday sales — even though they're not mentioning Amazon.com directly. On Monday, for example, J.C. Penney launched an event that runs through Wednesday that allows "shoppers to get a jump start on holiday purchases," according to a release, which also said that "weekend sales events will continue in November, with an early Black Friday preview and exciting, limited-time deals at Black Friday prices available throughout the entire month." While Kohl's also didn't mention Amazon directly, it did publish a press release stating that it kicked off holiday deals last week with its WOW Deals initiative, and that it will continue to offer amazing deals and savings through December, "including a new Black Friday Week shopping experience."

Total Retail's Take: There's much holiday buzz around Prime Day this year, given its late-in-the-year placement due to the COVID-19 pandemic (it usually occurs in July, traditionally a much slower time on the retail calendar). Therefore, it makes sense that competing retailers would use it as an opportunity to jump-start their own holiday promotions. The buzz began with the announcement of its new date, beginning today at 12 a.m. PST and running through Oct. 14.

Analysts predict this year's Prime Day event will be the biggest in Amazon’s history, as more Americans stretch out their search for holiday gifts and do more of it online than in previous years because of the pandemic. Amazon’s Prime Day sales are forecast to jump to about $7.5 billion, according to analysts from JPMorgan, up 42 percent from its estimated $5.3 billion in revenue last year, CNBC.com reported. At the time, that represented Amazon’s largest global shopping event. While the dates may be different, the spirit of Prime Day is continuing to live on, with Amazon featuring savings and deep discounts for its Prime members on more than 1 million deals across every category. And as in years past, competing retailers, including Target and Walmart, are piggy-backing on the increased online traffic during Prime Day to host their own sales in an effort to get a piece of the online shopping pie. This year, however, they will be focusing on holiday shoppers, eager to get good deals and the opportunity to get their holiday shopping done early.