It’s almost Amazon Prime day again, and eBay has something to say about it…
This year, eBay, a major Amazon retail competitor, is conducting its own promotions and taking some potshots at the Bezos operation, a retailer that has built Amazon Prime day into a major national celebration.
eBay’s efforts are being referred to as a “Crash Sale” happening July 15. That’s the first of two Prime days this year as Amazon expands its own promotion into a two-day extravaganza. Last year, Amazon saw shoppers purchase over 100 million products, with sales of new tech gear like Alexa, Echo and FireTV Stick items popular.
What’s at the heart of eBay’s sale model is that the company is positioning itself as an alternative if online customers should have problems with Amazon on the big day (or days).
eBay leaders cite crashes that happened last year on Prime day, suggesting that eBay will be there this year to help take care of the overflow.
And eBay’s Not Alone…
There’s another competitor zeroing in on Prime day’s popularity: Top brick-and-mortar retailer, Target, is holding its “Deal Days” on the same two days as Amazon’s extended sale.
In both cases, Target and eBay are both pretty up front about the motives. Although eBay is only committing to the first half of the sale, the subtext seems to be that the e-tailer will pick up any slack on the July 16 as well, and reportedly offering hard numbers: up to 50% on brands including Apple, LG, and Garmin.
Prime Day itself looks heavy on tech, with top items eyed by consumers (and CNet picks) including a Toshiba 43-inch Fire TV for $180 and Apple AirPods with charger, also for $180. Fire tablets and TV streamers, Echo speakers, Kindle gear and Alexa-enabled devices will also be on offer at reduced prices.
None of this seems to translate into big stock swings: Amazon is holding steady at around $1,900 over the month, with eBay down about 1% over five days, but up more than 6% through the month, and Target moving since May from about $80 to just over $85 per share.
We’ll see if the July melee changes those numbers much.
