New day of discounts launched by Amazon

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - 13:48 by Mike Price

In an effort to get more people signed up to its Prime subscription service, online retailer, Amazon, has announced the impending arrival of a special day of serious shopping discounts, according to City AM.

The appropriately named Prime Day will be taking place to mark 20 years since Amazon was founded as one of the first places to buy books online. Its expansion has been well documented and it is one of the most powerful forces in e-commerce in 2015.

Only those who are members of Amazon Prime will be able to access the 24 hours of discounts that are on offer, but with a current £20 price cut on a year’s subscription expiring today, it is possible to sign up for just £59.

Amazon Prime gives free next day delivery to subscribers, as well as other exclusive offers. But for Prime Day, the company is setting out to create more deals than are available on Black Friday.

Black Friday has risen to become one of the biggest shopping days in the UK over the past couple of years, so it will be interesting to see whether Amazon’s efforts are capable of replicating the kind of frenzy that some consumers exhibit.

Amazon has not put a specific figure on the number of Prime members currently active in the UK, but it has said that there are millions of people signed up to enjoy safe shopping online with quick delivery and additional access to its video streaming service.

Internationally, the success of Amazon Prime has been significant, with a 53 per cent rise in subscribers over the past 12 months. Events like Prime Day are sure to be a good way of convincing more to join in the course of 2015.