Amazon is celebrating its 20th anniversary with Amazon Prime Day, its own version of Black Friday.
The one-day sale starts at midnight July 15 and is available exclusively to Prime members.
Amazon said customers will have access to special deals of the day and thousands of “lightning deals.” New deals will start as often as every 10 minutes.
Shoppers who aren’t members of Amazon Prime can participate in a free 30-day trial membership.
“Prime Day is a one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe. Members tell us every day how much they love Prime and we will keep making it better,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President Amazon Prime, in a statement.
Amazon is estimated to have more than 40 million domestic Prime members, who pay $99 a year.
Most subscribe for the free two-day shipping, but they also get access to movies and TV shows through Prime Instant Video, a huge library of Kindle books and music, unlimited photo storage and the ability to share Prime subscriptions with household members.
The world’s largest online retailer declared July 15 “Amazon Prime Day” in an effort to retain subscribers and build brand loyalty amid strong competition, mostly from Walmart.
While Amazon generates huge numbers in sales, it has struggled with profitability. The Seattle-based company reported first-quarter revenue of $22.72 billion, up 15 percent over last year’s $19.74 billion, but a net loss of $57 million, about 12 cents per share.
News of Amazon’s July sale prompted Walmart to announce its own sales extravaganza sales on July 15 that will offer “thousands of great deals’’ and “special atomic deals.’’
Walmart also has cut its $50 minimum purchase for free shipping to $35, the same as Amazon’s free shipping option for shoppers who aren’t Prime members.
Earlier this year, Walmart started piloting a Shipping Pass program in which customers pay $50 a year for free three-day shipping on more than a million products from their online catalog.
Other retailers are rolling out their own initiatives to compete with Amazon Prime, including eBay and Jet.com, a new shopping club startup from the Diapers.com CEO.
The challenge for other retailers is figuring out to make their core customers feel like a membership fee is worth the money.
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