Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Amazon — and the retailers chasing the e-commerce behemoth — are making the seasonal switch to holiday deals earlier and earlier.
Why it matters: The traditional holiday shopping season ended with COVID, which pushed more deals online and caused retailers to spread out demand.
- Halloween is weeks away — and Black Friday doesn't come for another month and a half.
- Now, inflation is part of the reason for the earlier start to help consumers stretch out purchases.
The big picture: Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Kohl's are among the retailers entering the holiday shopping fray this week with sales that target shoppers buying gifts early.
- More sales are expected to start before Black Friday, which falls on Nov. 24 this year.
Zoom in: Amazon's decision to hold another Prime Day-like sale in October upends the traditional calendar of discounting and pushes retailers to start offering deals early, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.
- Adobe said in its annual forecast that it expects U.S. online holiday sales to hit $221.8 billion this holiday shopping season, which it considers from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.
- This represents a 4.8% growth year-over-year.
- Discounts are expected to hit record highs this season, peaking at 35% off toys, 30% for electronics and 25% off apparel prices, Adobe said.
Meanwhile, mobile shopping is expected to drive 51.2% of all online spending this season, which overtakes shopping on desktop computers for the first time.
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days
Amazon holds its second Prime Day-like sale of the year with its Prime Big Deal Days that starts at 3am ET Tuesday.
- The 48-hour sale continues through Wednesday, Oct. 11 and the company said new deals will drop "as often as every five minutes during select periods throughout the event."
Of note: Amazon said the first day of the July Prime Day 2023 sale was the single-largest sales day in company history.
Flashback: Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to reward Prime members. Prime Day was held in July every year before the pandemic.
- In 2022, Amazon held a similar sale in October called the "Prime Early Access Sale."
Target Deal of the Day
Target's Circle Week ended Saturday but it is continuing to have a Deal of the Day daily through Christmas Eve for members of its free Circle loyalty program.
- This holiday season Target is rolling out curbside returns.
Walmart Deals Holiday Kickoff
Walmart's "first holiday deals event of the year" is an online-only sale that is longer than Amazon's.
- The Walmart Deals Holiday Kickoff sale runs from noon ET Monday through Thursday, Oct. 12, the retailer said in a news release.
Best Buy Flash Sale and early deals
Best Buy will hold a 48-hour flash sale Oct. 10-11 with "hundreds of deals on some of the best tech, from TVs and laptops, headphones and smartwatches, to electric transportation and more," the company said.
Kohl's Deal Dash
Kohl's Deal Dash event runs from Monday through Wednesday at 1,100-plus stores and its online store.
- The sale has deals and discounts on toys, small kitchen appliances, luggage, décor and more, the retailer said.
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