Amazon Adds More Countries for Third Annual Prime Day

By Paul Ausick Updated Jan 12, 10:35AM EST · Published Jun 29, 8:30AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) said Thursday morning that its third annual Prime Day promotion will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, and run through midnight on July 11, the first time the online retailer’s program has run longer than 24 hours, not counting the run-up promotions that precede the actual event. This year, the promotion will include shoppers in 10 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico and China.

This year’s promotions began this morning with deals for Prime members that include Amazon Music Unlimited for four months for 99 cents and a six-month subscription to the company’s Audible audiobook service at $8.95 a month, a savings of 40%.

To take advantage of Prime Day specials, consumers must be Prime subscribers. And that’s the whole idea: lasso as many new subscribers as possible who are willing to pay $99 a year for a Prime membership in exchange for free two-day shipping and all the other perks that go along with Prime membership. New subscribers can even take advantage of Prime’s 30-day free trial during the Prime Day promotion.

[nativounit]

The deal pricing is not just about one-day of subscriber sign-ups, though. Prime members spend twice as much at Amazon’s online store as non-members. According to a report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners released in April, Amazon’s Prime membership grew from an estimated 58 million at the end of the first quarter of 2016 to 80 million Prime members in the United States alone. An average Prime subscriber spends $1,300 annually with the company, while non-Prime members spend about $700.

Last year’s second Prime Day promotion generated 60% more orders worldwide and 50% more in the United States than did the 2015 version of Prime Day. Amazon said last year’s Prime Day was its biggest single sales day ever. Those numbers likely will surge with the extension of Prime Day deals to 13 other countries.

Seattle-based Amazon said 40% of companies participating are small businesses and entrepreneurs. Amazon launched Prime Day in July 2015 to celebrate its 20th birthday.

[wallst_email_signup]

About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.