Love it or hate it, Amazon’s Prime Day will soon be upon us.
This annual Black-Friday-style sale in the summer months gets everyone – from consumers to retailers – in a frenzy; some trying to snag once-a-year deal and some trying to play the lowest price game. Amazon took the idea of Black Friday, which is the biggest shopping day of the year, and found a way to capitalize on that idea of big limited-time sale by creating their own day, with little rhyme or reason. Amazon Prime Day happens each summer, with no real purpose other than to give Amazon some publicity and to boost sales. And we’re here for it 100%.
As long as you are a Prime member, you will have access to 36-hours’ worth of deals starting on July 16th at 12:00 pm PT/3:00 pm ET. The sale is also available to Prime members in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Austria (check local times for sale kickoffs). The sale will include general price drips as well as limited-time and limited quantity lightning deals. If you’re not currently a Prime member, Prime Day could even reduce the cost of the annual membership so you might want to check on that.
Lightning deals run for just a few hours, or until the quantity runs out, and have to be claimed by shoppers. Once claimed, you will have to actually finish check out in a certain amount of time to get that deal. Don’t worry if a deal you want is sold out, you can join a waitlist and claim the deal if someone else doesn’t check out in time.
Since Amazon is a leader in smart home technology, you can expect that there will be plenty of smart home devices in the Prime Day catalog. Last year, the Echo Dot was the top worldwide seller on Prime Day, and in the UK the TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug was the top seller.
Amazon has its own robust line of smart home products, and in anticipation of Prime Day has already put some of those items on sale, including reducing the price of the Echo Show by $100.
The entire Echo line is likely to be part of the sale, including the Dot, the Echo, the Look, and the Show. This is also the first Prime Day since Amazon acquired the smart video doorbell company Ring, so expect to see some price reductions on that or even some bundle deals. Amazon’s line of Fire tablets are also likely to be part of the sale, as they also support the smart home assistant, Alexa.
Amazon also sells smart locks, lighting, and hub systems, so if you’ve been in the market to expand your smart home, Prime Day is the time.
You can use the Amazon or Alexa app to get sneak peeks at deals, track deals, and sign up for deal alerts. If you already use Alexa, you can ask her about Prime Day. There will also likely be some deals that are available only through shopping with your voice and your Echo.
Let us know what you’re thinking about buying on Prime Day down in the comments!
