Amazon’s annual shopping bonanza holiday, Prime Day, has reportedly been delayed due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Day, which started in 2015 as a way to boost sales in the summer, is usually held in July, but according to Reuters, the online retailer plans to push the marketing event to August.
Amazon usually doesn’t announce when it will have Prime Day until a few weeks before the event. With unemployment in the US nearing its highest point since the Great Depression, it’s unlikely that shoppers would be ready to splurge on smart speakers and other non-essential gadgets if the event were to still be held in July.
According to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters, Amazon expects to take a $100 million hit from the delayed event because it has an excess of devices that will have to be sold at an even steeper discount than planned. The figure could balloon to $300 million in a worst-case scenario.
2019 was the most successful Prime Day ever. Amazon claims the 48-hour sale surpassed the previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined,” with Prime members buying more than 175 million items during the event.
News of the delayed Prime Day comes as Amazon has been engulfed in controversy due to its handling of COVID-19. Employees have staged walkouts at shipping centers to complain about the lack of face masks and other protective measures. Organizers of the walkout were quickly fired, causing even more outrage from the public.
