Amazon Prime Day sale in India is a little late this year but just in time for the festive season

• Amazon US has confirmed that the Prime Day sale has been delayed until later this year, making India the first country to host the sale.
• But this also means that Amazon is deviating from its usual strategy of holding the sale on the same days all over the world.
• This can be the first step towards recovery of e-commerce sales after lockdown.

Amazon India has announced that its Prime Day sale will take place on August 6 and 7 – a little later than usual. Last year, Amazon had held Prime Day on July 15 and 16. However, even with the slight delay in India, Amazon is actually pushing out its sale in India before it takes place globally.

Amazon US has confirmed that the Prime Day sale has been delayed until later this year, making India the first country to host the sale – deviating from their usual strategy of holding the sale on the same days all over the world.

“This year we’ll be holding Prime Day later than usual, while ensuring the safety of our employees and supporting our customers and selling partners. We are excited Prime members in India will see savings on August 6-7, and that members all around the world will experience Prime Day later this year. We look forward to sharing more details soon,” an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider.

While the global giant hasn’t confirmed why India gets different dates this year, Amazon is betting on the beginning of the festive season in August. The sale is now closer to Rakshabandhan, Independence Day and Ganesh Chaturthi.

"Customers and sellers want to be able to shop around this period...we timed the event in such a way to ensure that our ecosystem and partners are also set up to scale," Akshay Sahi, head of Amazon Prime India, told ET.

Last year, the e-commerce player had said that users from over 70% pin codes of India had shopped during the Prime Day Sale.

This can be the first step towards recovery of e-commerce sales after lockdown. Retailers in India will be banking on Diwali sales this year to make up for the lost momentum during the first quarter. In a seminar organised by Shopping Centres Association of India in June, mall owners had said that while the next 90-120 days will be about ‘recovery, reimagine and re-energise the business model’, the broader idea is to focus on regrowth by Diwali - which is when the experts anticipate 80-100% consumers returning.

Meanwhile, while this will be Amazon’s first annual sale post lockdown, Flipakart’s Myntra already held its End of Reason Sale earlier in June.

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