With Prime Day, Amazon Creates Urgent Shopping on Two Otherwise Nameless Summer Workdays

Over the weekend, millions of shoppers added notes to their to-do list that went something like this: "Check for a better price on Prime Day."And the sizzling prices they'll find starting Monday aren't limited to Amazon, which is putting on an expanded 48-hour rendition of the midsummer shopping holiday it created.If prior Prime Days are any indication, plenty of Amazon's big retail competitors, the ones who can create their own doorbusters, will also generate higher sales, said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights. Monday and Tuesday are expected to be this year's second and third $2 billion-plus online sales days, according to Adobe, which bases its analysis on actual sales transactions. The first was Memorial Day. The next won't be until Labor Day, and then there will be more during the holiday shopping season."Amazon has basically been able to create big shopping days out of nothing," Schreiner said.Amazon is forcing people to shop when they normally wouldn't by creating an irresistible cadence on a couple of summer weekdays with no holiday attached. The frenzy allows other retailers to better turn customer traffic into revenue. Target, Walmart, eBay, Kohl's, Best Buy and other retailers are capitalizing on Amazon's invention. "Big e-commerce competitors have become better at reaping the benefits of this artificial holiday," Schreiner said.Retailers are calling Monday and Tuesday their "biggest sale of the summer," offering promo codes for July 15 and 16 only and pre-Prime Day discounts for people who didn't want to wait. Macy's used the "Black Friday in July" phrase and had a countdown clock on flash sales. J.C. Penney had a Dog Days of Summer sale over the weekend that required no coupons.  Continue reading...