More Retailers Imitate Prime Day as Consumers Demand Discounts

As retailers look to hold their own among bargain-seeking shoppers this summer in the face of competition Amazon’s ever-more-popular Prime Day, Target is the latest to join the deals days battle.

The retailer announced Tuesday (June 25) that its Target Circle Week, open to all members of its free loyalty program, will run July 7-13, days ahead of Amazon’s Prime Day event, which as the eCommerce giant shared Tuesday, will be on July 16 and 17.

“Since Target Circle is free to join, Target Circle Week gives our guests more deals — at no cost — so you can stock up on everything from backyard cookout essentials to back-to-school supplies,” Cara Sylvester, Target’s vice president and chief guest experience officer, commented. “We believe saving should be simple and shopping should be fun, and our new Target Circle delivers just that with flexible options and a range of benefits to meet every shopper’s needs.”

The event includes deals on toys, kitchen supplies, apparel, home goods, beauty products and more. In an effort to have its cake and eat it too — to both drive paid memberships and enjoy the widespread engagement that can come from the promotions being available to non-paid members — the company is offering discounted subscriptions during the event.

The news came just one day after competitor Walmart announced its own July savings event, “Walmart Deals,” the company’s second such event in weeks, which will run July 8 through July 11 and be open to everyone, not just members. The company’s members-only event ended Sunday (June 23).

These moves come as summer deals events see widespread — and growing — participation.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report last year “Summer Deal Days 2023: How Amazon Still Dominates” analyzed data from a survey of over 5,500 Amazon Prime members and Walmart shoppers.

The report found that Amazon Prime Day attracted twice as many participants as Walmart+ Week, even though Prime Day is exclusive to members, whereas Walmart+ Week was available to everyone. Namely, 40% of consumers made purchases during Amazon’s event, compared to 20% during Walmart’s, an increase from 36% and 11% respectively in 2022.

“Over the course of last year, Amazon customers saved nearly $24 billion from deals and coupons — with Prime members enjoying the vast majority of those savings — including over $2.5 billion during Prime Day 2023,” Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, said in a statement Tuesday.

Participation in Amazon Prime Day is especially high among high-income consumers, with the Summer Deal Days 2023 study finding that the majority (52%) of consumers who make more than $100,000 annually participated in the event last year. As such, competitors are apparently taking note of the opportunity to leverage deals events to drive adoption.

Many merchants are joining the mix. DoorDash recently announced the return of its seasonal members-only sales event Summer of DashPass, and major electronics retailer Best Buy is currently in the middle of its Member Deals Days.

These moves come as consumers increasingly wait for seasonal sales to make retail purchases, as has been observed by merchants ranging from Best Buy to Target-owned same-day delivery aggregator Shipt.

Affordability is certainly driving consumers’ purchasing decisions. The February/March installment of the PYMNTS Intelligence “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report” series revealed that half of consumers have downgraded to less expensive merchants in response to inflation.

Additionally, 45% of low-income (those who earn less than $50,000 annually), 41% of middle-income ($50,000-$100,000) and 28% of high-income (more than $100,000) shoppers said they had switched to lower-quality products to save on cost for the same reason.

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