Amazon announces “Black Friday-worthy” deals are starting earlier than ever: Following Prime Day 2020's success as a preamble to the holiday season, Amazon is rolling out discounts early—and competitors are following suit.

It’s been six years since Amazon’s inaugural Prime Day, and since then, the sales bonanza has evolved from the unofficial kickoff of back-to-school shopping into an event other major retailers try to emulate—so much so that the ecommerce giant has tried to obfuscate when the annual sales day will occur.

As Amazon raked in more than $11 billion in Prime Day sales worldwide, health and beauty product sales boomed on the platform. In a survey conducted by Numerator throughout the event, 28.0% of US Prime Day buyers said they made a purchase in that category. Consumer electronics also made a spark: 27.5% of respondents reported buying tech gear and gadgets.

On today's episode, we discuss how Prime Day performed versus last year, what kind of a halo effect took place, and whether Amazon was able to capture the back-to-school spending. We then talk about augmented reality's ability to help shoppers, what WhatsApp Shops might look like, and how many folks said social media content resulted in them buying products. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Adobe Analytics estimates that total US ecommerce sales on Prime Day surpassed $11 billion, and Amazon said that its global customers bought more than 250 million items during the coveted two-day shopping event.

Amazon has been moving its shopping holiday around, and now it's next week. Melissa Burdick, co-founder and president at retail media buying technology firm Pacvue, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss what Amazon gets out of having Prime Day in Q2 and the latest in the retail media war.

Amazon Prime Day promises to be different in 2020 amid the backdrop of a pandemic, major shifts in consumer spending patterns, and a later-than-usual event timing.

It’s Prime Day in June. Amazon traditionally held Prime Day in mid-July but pushed the event to October last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. (The exception was India, where it took place in August 2020.) This year, Amazon will hold Prime Day on June 21–22.

Prime Day sales will surpass $10 billion

On today's episode, we discuss whether a digital bank can become a one-stop shop for everything and how consumers are paying for things differently. We then talk about where homeowners are spending the most money, why Etsy bought Depop, and what we expect from Prime Day 2021. Tune in to the discussion with CEO of Inter Shop (part of Banco Inter) Rodrigo Gouveia, eMarketer senior analyst Matteo Ceurvels, and director of forecasting at Insider Intelligence Cindy Liu.

Shortly after Amazon confirmed Prime Day for June 21 and 22, both retailers introduced coinciding sales events as competition continues heating up in the retail space.

Amazon, in comparison, said it sold about 250 million items worldwide over the full two-day period of Prime Day 2021. A growing internet population drives demand.