Amazon confirmed that it will hold a new online shopping event Oct. 11-12, exclusive to Prime members — seeking to replicate the effect of its annual summertime Prime Day event to boost sales during another traditional lull in the retail calendar.
With the new “Prime Early Access Sale,” announced Sunday night, Amazon is looking to jump-start the peak holiday shopping season.
In another new twist, Amazon says it will release a Top 100 list of products in conjunction with the Prime Early Access Sale, which it describes as “some of the season’s most popular and giftable items.”
The company says it will offer deals from the list over the course of the two days, “offering deep savings across all top categories, including electronics, fashion, home, kitchen, pets, toys, and Amazon devices.”
The Prime Early Access Sale comes at a time of year when there’s often a lull in retail sales, between back-to-school shopping and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in November.
Competing retailers often piggyback on Prime Day by running their own sales events at the same time. It’s not yet clear if the fall sales event will have the same ripple effect across the industry, but Target announced last week that it is is holding its own “deal days” Oct. 6-8, and Walmart moved up its extended holiday return window to October.