Amazon to Hold Prime Early Access Sale on October 11-12

🛍️ Holiday shopping at Amazon is starting early this year, allowing customers to reduce the cost of their BFCM and Christmas purchases by taking advantage of the 2nd Prime Day sales event!

What We Know So Far

Amazon announced that its 2nd Prime Day event, dubbed as the “Prime Early Access Sale”, will take place from October 11 to 12, in a move that mimics that of its rivals Walmart and Target.

The new two-day sales event is exclusive to Amazon’s more than 200 million Prime members, and will grant them access to huge discounts on the most popular brands as early as fall, giving them a head start to find and shop the best holiday deals.

The sales extravaganza will also showcase Amazon’s Top 100 list which includes best-selling gift items and amazing deals in electronics, fashion, home, and kitchen products, among other top categories.

The announcement confirms Business Insider’s report just three months prior, when it said that the eCommerce giant was planning to hold another Prime Day event in October.

Why is Amazon Holding a 2nd Prime Day Event?

• Protect its Q4 market share. The competition for sales during the upcoming holiday season is heating up as other retailers announced sale events scheduled earlier than Amazon’s. Walmart’s holiday sale will start on October 1 and will feature thousands of discounts in toys, tech, home, and beauty product categories.
  
  On the other hand, Target will kick off its own two-day Deals Day event from October 6 to 8, offering shoppers “hundreds of thousands” of deals in different product categories plus a price-match guarantee until Christmas eve. 
  
  According to Texas A&M marketing professor Venkatesh Shankar, Prime Early Access Sale represents Amazon’s attempt to “cover its bases” and grab the largest share of consumers’ holiday shopping.

• Offload excess inventory. The fact that there is an oversupply of consumer goods from fashion, electronics, toys, home and other popular categories also fuels the competition between these rival retailers. Due to supply chain challenges, these products, which the retailers ordered to meet their projected customer demand, arrived late and are now stuck on store shelves and in warehouses. These retailers must be feeling the pressure to sell these products fast and replace them with new products for the holiday season and the new year.

• Fill up unused warehouses. Another possible reason is that Amazon is seeking to fill up its empty warehouse space for the coming quarter and so is hoping to invite more sellers to send in inventory. 
  
  Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky admitted to reporters last April that the company has way too much warehouse space, infrastructure, and staff than the required demand. Amazon has made significant investments in logistics and human resources given the surge in eCommerce during the onset of the pandemic. 
  
  But now, given the record-breaking inflation that consumers are grappling with and the decreasing eCommerce purchases, retailers like Amazon need to be creative in increasing their revenue. Holding these big sale events will allow them to attract more sellers to stock up on their products, which will occupy more space in their warehouse, and increase their fulfillment revenue. 

It is also possible that Amazon is trying to recreate the success of its first Prime Day of 2022 held last July 12 to 13, which saw the company earning $12.09B. 

Related: Walmart and Amazon Battle for Dominance Intensifies

What’s in it for Amazon Sellers?

Sellers may want to take advantage of Prime Early Access Sale to increase their restock limits, which can come in handy for the upcoming Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) event. 🚀

Just last month, Amazon announced that they are bringing back restock limits in preparation for the Q4 holiday rush. Sellers have been given up to four (4) months’ worth of inventory in FBA fulfillment centers. 

⚠️ However, I wouldn’t recommend maxing out your restock limits for the October Prime event, as it means increased difficulty in restocking until you free up enough storage space for products as limits fluctuate. In turn, this may translate to missed selling opportunities during BFCM and through the rest of the holiday season. 

If you have excess inventory, try getting rid of it faster by offering deep discounts during this 2nd Prime Day. Increasing sales results in a higher sell-through rate, which is a very important metric used by Amazon in determining seller restock limits. 

And remember, the Prime Early Access Sale is expected to be a “high velocity” sales event, so make sure your business and inventory are ready for it! 💪

Related: 3PL Logistics Backup for Amazon, Master Carton Calculator, How to Ship to Amazon FBA (And Speed Up Check-in Times)