The news: Amazon will hold its October Prime Big Deal Days sale on October 6 and 7, the company announced.

The details: The retailer’s offerings are fairly straightforward this year, a contrast with last year’s event, which included fuel savings, access to exclusive film screenings, free McDonald’s meals, and Prime Visa cashback perks alongside widespread discounts.

Amazon will “drop” three batches of limited-time offers each day at midnight, 8am, and 1pm PDT featuring new and trending products from familiar names such as Princess Polly and Anker, as well as brands new to the retailer.

Prime members will also find deals on Halloween merchandise like costumes and candy and game-day items like slow cookers and snack bundles. Shoppers looking to get a head start on holiday gifting will find more items exclusive to Amazon and a dedicated storefront from toy company FAO Schwarz.

As with last year, Amazon is using Big Deal Days to drive adoption for its fresh grocery delivery. The retailer is offering discounts of up to 75% on select grocery items delivered same-day, with Prime members receiving free delivery on orders above $25 in most areas.

Implications for retail: We expect Amazon’s October sales event to capture $8.52 billion in sales this year, an increase of 7.1% YoY. While the sale is roughly half as big as the retailer’s tentpole Prime Day event in terms of volume, it represents an important opportunity for Amazon to capture purchases from deal-seeking shoppers and encourage Prime members to spend more within its ecosystem.

In particular, grocery promotions could enable the retailer to grow its share of everyday spending. Amazon is betting that Prime members who try its same-day perishables delivery service will consolidate more grocery spending with the retailer. Supporting that logic, customers who add perishables to same-day orders buy more than three times as many units per order on average.

Amazon is also using the event to draw attention to its AI tools, which could increase engagement with its platform. Customers can use Alexa for Shopping to set up deal and price alerts, as well as auto-buy items when they reach price targets. Other features include the ability to see up to a year’s worth of product price history, check price drops on saved items, and ask Alexa for Shopping to send updates on product launches on Amazon or elsewhere.

Leaning on deals, convenience, and AI could give Amazon an edge as more retailers rush to launch competing October sales.