Retail Dive: Amazon Launches Early Holiday Shopping Deals

(Image source: Amazon)

Black Friday was always known as the biggest shopping event globally, with major discount deals and promotions. Many consumers would queue outside retail stores before its opening on the shopping day and rush to get their items.

Ever since the pandemic hit, shopping have transitioned to online shopping. Most retailers have also combined Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year shopping into one big shopping month to avoid capacity crunch during this upcoming peak season.

Amazon is introducing “Black Friday-worthy deals” at around the same time of last year’s Prime Day. Thanks to the vaccination rollouts, most activities are returning to normal and people are getting back to stores and malls for shopping. The later stage of pandemic also gives retailers some advantages: 

“The tailwinds include pent-up demand for discretionary goods, the strength of consumer spending, full-price selling due to lean inventory levels leading to an increase in margins, enhanced profitability from the digital channel, and a rationalized expense base,” Telsey Advisory Group analysts said.

This doesn’t erase the upcoming challenges that merchants have to face in the later stage of the e-commerce holiday shopping season regarding the supply chain. Amazon has to invest more than $1 billion in higher pay for front-line teams and conduct a mass recruitment. Despite all that, there are still many uncertainties around the supply for the holiday season. Retailers will have to try hard to ensure that goods get into customers’ hands by the Dec. 25 holiday deadline.

Source: Amazon joins other retailers in pushing early holiday deals

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