Amazon Invents the New Black Friday: Prime Day

Amazon is creating its own Black Friday, but it's called Prime Day and it's on a Wednesday. The online retailer is using its special one-day event on July 15 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and the special deals will be for Amazon Prime members only.

Amazon invents its own Black Friday with Prime Day

Amazon is promising great deals all day long, and no doubt shoppers will find all kinds of amazing discounts. "Prime Day is a one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe," said Amazon Prime Vice President Greg Greeley.

The company said new deals will be popping up about every ten minutes throughout the day.

Those deals will no doubt be great for shoppers, they'll also likely drive up Amazon Prime subscriptions. For Amazon, that's the real win for its anniversary deals because Prime subscribers tend to spend substantially more annually compared to non-Prime shoppers.

Prime costs US$99 a year and includes perks like free two-day shipping, plus access to Amazon's streaming music and video services. The company offers a 30-day free trial, too, so Amazon is likely counting on that to help drive up subscribers along with its Prime Day event.

If you're already a Prime subscriber, get ready for next Wednesday's virtual shopping mall slugfest. If you aren't, it's pretty clear Amazon is ready to welcome you into the fold.