Nearly all major online retailers look forward to Prime Day

Amazon may have started Prime Day in 2015, a summer equivalent to Black Friday, but it’s clear nearly all major online retailers including Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy are copying that effort today. The hope by all is to ring up sales from purchases of an estimated 50 million online shoppers this year.

Roughly 70% of consumers who plan to shop during Prime Day this year — which is actually two days, July 15-16 — will look outside of Amazon to compare prices with other retailers, according to a recent survey by analytics firm Adlucent. The survey found 50% will look at Walmart, 33% will check Target, 32% will check in with Best Buy and 31% said they will comparison shop elsewhere for the best deal.

Walmart is starting its three-day sales on Sunday (July 14), one day earlier than Amazon. In 2018, the website RetailMeNot, which maintains a collection of coupon websites, found 194 retailers took part in Prime Day sales events, and that number is expected to reach 250 this year.

Consulting firm A.T. Kearney notes Amazon won’t be the only winner this year if shoppers follow similar patterns from 2018. A Kearney survey found 40% of Prime Day buyers in the U.S. also made purchases from other retailers. Another 25% browsed other sites for competitive offers without making a purchase. Among those who shopped at other retailers, most made purchases at Walmart (21%) or Target (20%), Kearney reports.

Kearney found the primary reason Prime Day buyers made purchases elsewhere was that they found a better price with another retailer. One in 10 who made purchases outside of Amazon said they wanted to pick their purchases up in stores.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recently surveyed consumers about their purchase plans for Prime Day. More than half (52%) said they were putting off making a purchase in anticipation of Prime Day deals. PwC found 60% of those surveyed said they have a Prime membership in part to take advantage of Prime Day specials. That said, 55% of respondents said they will shop around for deals from other retailers.

Among young consumers (ages 18-24), being able to take part in Prime Day deal was the primary reason they have a Prime membership. The young consumers (40%) said they will spend more on Prime Day than they did on Cyber Monday. Just 28% of adults 53 or older plan to spend more on Prime Day than they did on Cyber Monday last year.

As usual, electronics are among the most popular items consumers plan to buy during Prime Day events. That is especially true for men as 67% said they are looking specifically for electronic deals. For female shoppers, beauty and personal care items are among the most popular purchases.

Nearly half of consumers said they plan to research the deals in advance. Younger shoppers under age 35 are also more likely to sign up for Prime Day deal watch lists

Belk began marketing for its Black Friday in July sales event via emails and social media ads on Wednesday (July 10), touting more than 500 doorbuster deals and sale prices as much as 75% oof regular prices for clothing, jewelry, home goods and shoes. Belk allows free store pickup for most online orders or free shipping with a minimum $49 order.

Some of the biggest values leaked by Amazon include a robot vacuum cleaner for under $150, a savings of $75. The Amazon Echo Dot speaker will be offered at Black Friday value of $24.99 which is half off. Crest White Strips will be discounted by more than $11, seen as a value at $18.34. Amazon and Walmart will each offer laptops, tablets, blue-tooth speakers and other electronics at a discount.