Amazon Prime Day will be two days this year, on October 13 and October 14

A fleet of Amazon Prime delivery vans were seen driving along I-90 outside Chicago on March 21, 2020.

Rebecca Harrington/Business Insider

• Amazon will hold its Prime Day on October 13 and October 14 this year.
• The online retail giant's Prime Day traditionally occurs in mid-July.
• This year, Prime Day was pushed back thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

 

Amazon is splitting Prime Day between October 13 and 14 this year.

The online retail giant announced its new dates for Prime Day a few months after the coronavirus pandemic postponed the online retailer's traditional summer sales event.

Amazon Prime Day is normally held around July 15. But in July, leaked emails from Amazon employees revealed that the date would be delayed because of the pandemic. Initially, the company planned to give October 5 as a "placeholder" date for the postponed sales event. 

"In the midst of an unprecedented year, we're committed to making this the most successful Prime Day ever for our small businesses and [are] excited for Prime members worldwide to discover new ways to support local entrepreneurs and save big on everything they need and love," Amazon's CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke, said in a statement. "This year's Prime Day is the perfect opportunity for Prime members to get their holiday shopping done early from the comfort of their homes." 

The delayed Prime Day date is just the latest example of retailers getting creative to combat the effects of the pandemic. A growing number of retailers, including Target and Nordstrom, have said that they will shift the timing of their holiday promotions to as early as Halloween to avoid the usual rush in November and December. Retail industry insiders are also currently attempting to establish a new "10.10" holiday on October 10 to encourage online shopping.

Prime Day's late date in autumn may finally sound the death knell for Black Friday. The shopping day has been waning in importance for years due to the rise of Prime Day and Cyber Monday. With Amazon's signature sales event occuring so late in autumn and retailers stretching out holiday sales to attract consumers, the significance of the day after Thanksgiving is likely to take a hit in 2020.

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