What a September Prime Day Means for Amazon Investors

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been forced to delay its Prime Day shopping holiday, typically held in mid-July, as it faces an unexpected surge in demand. With the coronavirus pandemic leading to more online shopping, Amazon has had to make several moves to limit the sale of items it doesn't deem essential. One move was a pullback on marketing spend and changes to its website to stop promoting related items to those already in a shopper's cart.

The ultimate marketing event for Amazon is Prime Day. The company promotes thousands of deals to draw in customers and convince them to sign up for its unlimited shipping service. But due to the surge in demand, Amazon is delaying the event until September, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

September is about as late as Amazon could delay Prime Day without cancelling it altogether. But the delay will come with considerable costs. Not only will it require Amazon to either hold or sell inventory at a loss, it will delay Prime signups and offer competitors like Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) an opportunity to win over customers in the summer months.

Source Fool.com