The event, which takes place on Wednesday July 15, promises more deals than Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving US shopping extravaganza that has arrived the UK in recent years.
However, according to The Telegraph, Amazon’s Prime Day will only be available to members of its £79 a year Amazon Prime service, which includes free delivery on all items and access to its Amazon Instant Video platform.
“We’re offering Prime members thousands of deals on Prime Day. In fact, in the UK we are offering more than double the number of deals that we offered last Black Friday,” said Christopher North, managing director at Amazon UK.
The event comes of the eve of Amazon’s 20th anniversary. Shoppers who sign up for the event before midnight on Tuesday July 14 will qualify for Prime Day offers and receive a £20 discount on the annual Prime membership fee.
Prime Day will see numerous ‘lightning deals’ on products including electronics, toys, video games, clothing, and health and beauty items, with new deals starting every 10 minutes, Amazon said.
“Prime Day is the latest benefit for Prime members and you can expect us to add further benefits and features to this great service over time,” North added.
Prime Day is Amazon’s latest effort to sign shoppers up to its membership service. Last week it revealed it would offer one-hour delivery slots to Prime members in London, at a cost of £6.99 per delivery.
In 2014, it bundled Prime membership in with its Amazon Instant Video service – formerly Lovefilm in the UK – offering its customers on-demand access to TV shows and films.
Once a US-only phenomenon, Black Friday began to creep over to the UK via retailers such as Walmart-owned Asda.
In January, John Lewis boss Andy Street warned against the disruptioncaused by last year’s event falling so close to the Christmas shopping season. “From a customer point of a view it is a good deal. The question is for retailers – is it in our interest to have that peak?” he said.
