Amazon delays America’s Prime Day due to neverending COVID-19 pandemic

Amazon has officially delayed Prime Day 2020 in the U.S., reports CNBC. Prime Day is Amazon’s annual shopping extravaganza that usually takes place every July. It sees some of the best sales of the year with tens of thousands of items listed at steep discounts. But this year, Americans are going to have to wait a little longer for the consumer “holiday” of the year thanks to problems stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

But unfortunately for Prime Day junkies, Amazon has not set a new date for Prime Day 2020. Instead, it said it would share “more details soon” about the delayed event. However, as CNBC notes, earlier this month third-party Amazon sellers were instructed by the company to use the week of October 5th as a “placeholder date” for Prime Day promotions. That means its likely Prime Day 2020 will take place then.

Or, maybe it won’t. Things are pretty much up in the air, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic fallout for that pandemic, and the high-levels of unemployment, are some of the likely causes of Prime Day’s delay. After all, if you don’t have a job, you probably aren’t going to run out and buy the pancake maker no matter if it’s 50% off.

But another reason for Prime Day’s delay is likely due to logistics. As COVID-19 continues to sweep through America, new lockdowns and a surge in more people continuing to shop online risks stretching Amazon’s fulfillment and supply chain operations thin, which could wreak havoc for Prime Day.

Announcing Prime Day’s delay, an Amazon spokesperson said, “Over the past five years, Prime Day has become a special celebration and time for Prime members to shop incredible deals for themselves and for friends and family—and it’s something we look forward to every year. 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.”

However, while Americans will have to wait for Prime Day, the annual sale is moving full speed ahead in another part of the world. India’s Prime Day 2020 will take place in just a few week’s time on August 6-7th.

Update Tuesday:

An Amazon spokesperson referred Fast Company to this blog post and the following statement:

“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.”