Damp squib! Amazon Prime Day Sale Is Likely to Disappoint Deal-Hungry Shoppers
Bargain hunters are expected to find Amazon.com Inc.’s two-day Prime Day sale underwhelming this year, with many sellers minimizing profit-eating discounts in an era of soaring costs.
The annual event, which runs Tuesday and Wednesday, is becoming just another summer clearance sale designed to make room for new items before the busy holiday shopping season. Amazon is doing its best to sustain interest by touting “millions of deals,” including some of the lowest prices ever on its own signature products, such as $17.99 for an Alexa-powered Echo Dot smart speaker and a 50-inch Amazon Fire television for $99.99.
“Amazon knows it needs to step up the discounts on its big landmark products to capture people’s attention,” said Kristin McGrath, a shopping expert at the deal-monitoring site BlackFriday.com.
Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other perks. The event helps Amazon lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them deals on Amazon gadgets. Prime memberships have stagnated at about 172 million as of June 30, unchanged from six months earlier, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, suggesting a $20 price increase announced in February is turning people off.
This marks the second straight year when merchants -- who sell 60% of the products on Amazon’s site -- have been stingy with discounts. Prime Day is mostly seen as an opportunity to clear out aging inventory, said Tim Seward, who runs the e-commerce consulting firm ROI Revolution in Raleigh, North Carolina. About 60% of his 160 clients are offering Prime Day deals, but the discounts are moderate, he
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