UPDATE: According to leaked emails sent by Amazon to third-party retailers, Prime Day 2020 could have been pushed further back to a possible date in October. We've updated our original article to reflect the possibility of a further postponement from August.
Prime Day may have arrived late to Aussie shores but it was a great time for it to kick off in 2018. It launched in Australia just when Amazon started to increase the duration of the major sale event from a mere 24 hours to much, much longer. And that meant, in 2019, we got a shopping spree that lasted a whopping 65 hours – starting on schedule at midnight on July 15 and ending only when it did on the US West Coast.
Across the almost-three days of Prime Day last year, over 340,000 Aussies visited Amazon per day, with 40,000 of them making purchases. If that’s the kind of traffic Amazon can handle, we won’t be surprised if the e-commerce giant ups the ante in 2020.
However, there are some doubts about Amazon Prime Day 2020. While we're not expecting the event to be cancelled outright, an earlier Reuters report suggested the avalanche of deals would likely arrive in August. Not long after that, credible sources told the Wall Street Journal that the date had been moved to some time in September. However, a new report is suggesting it's been postponed once again to some time in October.
While this not only gives Amazon time to steady itself from the effects of the current Covid-19 pandemic, it also gives consumers time to possibly recover from the economic downturn the global crisis has brought. But whether an October date will ride into the Black Friday deals territory – another invented online shopping period that Amazon heavily relies on – remains to be seen.
Whether Amazon Prime Day 2020 is in September or in October, we have a lot of questions: on what date or dates will it happen? What Prime Day sales are expected this year? Should you buy on Prime Day or wait until Black Friday?
We're here to help answer those questions while official details are still in the offing.
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What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day began in the US in 2015 as a celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, with more deals on offer than Black Friday back then. Prime Day then quickly transformed into Amazon’s mid-year sales event where members of Amazon Prime get exclusive discounts on a wide range of items. While it began as a one-day sale, 2018 saw the offers last for 36 hours, while 2019 saw a recording-breaking 65-hour event for shoppers in Australia.
Why does Amazon have Prime Day? It's presented as a neat ‘thank you’ to its paying members, but one that involves giving Amazon more money and shifting a lot of stock at the same time.
Prime Day isn’t just about selling Amazon-branded products – many other brands and third-party sellers also save their best deals for Prime Day, completely aware that thousands of extra shoppers will be hitting the online store.
To make the most of Prime Day you’ll need to get yourself an Amazon Prime membership which, in Australia, will set you back just AU$6.99 a month or AU$59 a year – half the cost of the US subscription.
While you’re paying for the privilege of free, swift delivery (although that’s currently being slowed down to make space for the essential items people are ordering),signing up for Prime means you’ll also have free access to Amazon’s streaming services, including Prime Video, Prime Music and Twitch. Members also get free access to Prime Reading and Prime Photos for all their ebook and storage needs.
When is Amazon Prime Day 2020?
Amazon hasn’t confirmed the date for this year’s big sale event, but Prime Day has never been pushed beyond July before. That said, the current coronavirus pandemic has made things a little uncertain. Amazon is already struggling to cope with online shopping demands in most markets, Australia included, so scheduling Prime Day as per tradition in July again may be difficult.
While an earlier report suggested Prime Day 2020 would be in August, a later report claimed it had been postponed to September. However, if the latest news is to be believed, Amazon has pushed the event further back to October. This was revealed in emails sent to third-party retailers and was seen by CNBC. However, no one knows the specific date or, more likely, dates. Well, maybe Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos knows.
Last year's Prime Day deals lasted 65 hours for shoppers Down Under, and we expect something similar in 2020. Amazon has historically picked a Monday to start the deals and Prime Day usually runs through Tuesday (with a possible extension corresponding to the time the big sale ends over on the US West Coast).
If October is indeed the month, that leaves one of four choices for the start of Prime Day 2020:
Monday, October 5, 2020
Monday, October 12, 2020
Monday, October 19, 2020
Monday, October 26, 2020
If Amazon is truly planning an October event, then the company may need to work around Apple's iPhone 12 launch date – which itself is still unknown but is likely to hog the spotlight.
As soon as we catch wind of the Prime Day 2020 date, we'll be sure to update this page so you can prepare your Amazon wish list.
How long will Prime Day 2020 last?
Well, it's hard to say with any degree of certainty. We can't see Amazon reducing the amount of time Prime Day lasts for, so we're expecting Prime Day 2020 to last at least 65 hours this year, if not longer, although an October date might affect Amazon's plans for Black Friday that happens in November.
That said, in light of the recent reports of Prime Day 2020 moving back in the year, it could be even longer than expected. Prime Day a few years ago was only that, a day, but in 2018 it moved to 36 hours, and last year was a whopping 65 hours of deals for Aussies.
So we'll just have to wait for official word on what's happening to see how long this year's shopping spree will last.
Are Prime Day deals competitive?
Amazon has a plethora of offers on its site each day and those are usually some of the best prices you can find on consumer tech. Whether you’re after a Samsung Note 10 or a Philips Hue smart lighting system, chances are you’ll get them cheaper on Amazon than any other Aussie retailer. It’s even more the case with Prime Day deals.
Leading the raft of deals during Prime Day 2020 will be Amazon’s own products, including all the Echo and Kindle products, not to mention Ring security devices. Amazon is also one of the most convenient places to score a discount on the Oculus VR headsets and, now, lay your hands on official stock of Samsung devices, Xiaomi phones and Instant Pots.
You can easily score about 35% off on Amazon’s own devices during Prime Day which, for the rest of the year probably don’t drop more than 28% or thereabouts. If you’ve managed to score a $500 discount on Samsung or Huawei devices during one of Amazon’s regular deals, then it’s highly likely that the discount will be much deeper come Prime Day. It’s the perfect time to snag a Nintendo Switch or find the lowest prices on the best premium headphones – cheaper than any other retailer who will likely be scrambling to price-match.
What were people searching for on Amazon Prime Day 2019?
According to analytics experts Hitwise, Amazon saw an increase in traffic across all major categories on the Australian site, with the Electronics & Computing showing a 359% growth in reach between 2018 and 2019, with Amazon-branded items being the most popular products on the site, followed closely by the Nintendo Switch. There were nearly 100,000 page views for all NIntendo-branded items, including consoles and games.
With Samsung now having partnered with Amazon to sell its products on the e-commerce platform in Australia, it was no surprise that the South Korean brand clocked up over 95,000 pageviews during Prime Day 2019.
The other big winners in Australia included Sony, Sandisk, Corsair and Philips.
What to expect from Prime Day 2020
We’re not expecting shopping trends during Amazon Prime Day 2020 to change very much. The Nintendo Switch is still going to disappear within minutes of being discounted, and this could happen to the Switch Lite too if you aren’t quick enough.
Of course, Amazon’s Echo devices will likely be flying off the shelves like before, and we’ll still see the Paperwhite beating out the other Kindles in terms of sales. You can even expect to pocket some decent savings on Ring’s range of security devices, including the Doorbells and the cameras.
Premium headphones have been very popular on Amazon over the last couple of years and 2020 will likely see that continue, particularly for Sony and Bose headphones. With the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 one of the more expensive ANC cans on the market, Prime Day will be a great time to get a set for less.
With more TVs available on Amazon Australia now, we think Prime Day 2020 would be an ideal time to upgrade your home entertainment system, especially if you’re in the market for a good 4K smart telly.
It will also be a good time to get yourself a new fitness wearable, be it from Garmin’s very premium GPS sports watch range or more affordable options from Fitbit. Likewise, cameras and drones will see a price drop, too, so keep that credit card handy.
How to shop on Prime Day in 2020
1. Check out our deals predictions and, eventually our Prime Day deals list
There are also too many deals available on Prime Day. It's never a problem finding discounts, it's always an issue of figuring out what deals are worth your money. That's why we always set up a curated list during the sales marathon.
We spent some good time last Black Friday thinking about smart ways to shop on Amazon – they're still some great Prime Day tips and tricks.
2. Amazon Prime Day has historically required being a Prime member, so be sure to have a subscription on Prime Day
Amazon started Prime Day as a clever way to drive up its Prime subscription count, and this online shopping marathon – conveniently opposite Black Friday – accomplished just that.
You'll need to sign up for Prime (you can get a free 30-day trial), which comes with free shipping and Prime Video access, among other smaller perks.
3. Create a wish list to curate what you want, as there will be loads of deals
You're also going to want to create a wish list ahead of time, which will let you sort out what you want and how much everything costs. This will give you a head start. You'll be able to see which deals dropped in price and which did not.
4. Snap up the best Prime Day 2020 deals before they're gone
We often find the best deals to go in a matter of minutes, at which time Amazon rolls out a waitlist for those who were just behind the curve.
Prime Day: why does it matter more to Amazon?
There are some crucial differences between Prime Day and Black Friday. The first is that Prime Day is Amazon’s own day. It’s right there in the name which, of course, refers to Amazon’s Prime membership program and associated services. Amazon doesn’t own Black Friday, and that means ultimately it’s just another retailer shouting for attention – a massive retailer with a really loud voice. Black Friday is a sales event for the entire retail sector. With Prime Day as its own take on November sale period, it makes it much harder for rivals to muscle in on something that Amazon has effectively created from thin air.
The second and more important difference is that Black Friday doesn’t create new spending. It just moves it slightly. As we’ve discovered in recent years, the money people spend over the Black Friday period is money they were probably going to spend anyway: all Black Friday really does is concentrates pre-Christmas shopping in the last week of November.
Prime Day spending is different in two ways. First of all, people aren’t spending the money they’d already planned to spend on Christmas presents. And secondly, they’re buying mainly for themselves, not for others.
There’s another key benefit for Amazon. Its global bestsellers on Prime Day weren’t just Amazon devices; they were Amazon devices that connect to Amazon services. Fire TVs, Kindle Fires, Echo devices, Alexa remotes. Each one of them connecting to Amazon Prime, and each one of them requiring a Prime membership to buy in the first place. So when Black Friday rolls around, Amazon will have a whole bunch of Prime members for whom shopping on Prime is the default, and who might want to enhance their Amazon-powered smart homes with Amazon-branded Black Friday deals.
Prime Day means that, for Amazon, Christmas now comes twice a year.
- You don't need to wait for Prime Day to score a great bargain on Amazon. We handpick some of the best tech deals on Amazon and regularly list them right here.
