The summer sales are in full swing, meaning that Amazon Prime Day 2018 is surely just around the corner. An exact date for the online one-stop shop's annual extravaganza of deals and discounts is yet to be confirmed, but that doesn't mean it's too early to start fine-tuning your shopping strategy. Here's everything you need to know...
What actually is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon’s annual flash sale, usually falling in early July to coincide with the online colossus’s anniversary. The first event took place on July 15th 2015 to celebrate Amazon’s 21st birthday, and has got bigger ever since. The thousands of deals on offer tend to fall into two categories: reductions that will last the duration of Prime Day, and 'lightning' deals, which run for a limited time until they've sold out completely. Think of it as an Amazon-specific Black Friday that falls in the summer time, with the deals only available to Amazon Prime customers (time to activate that free 30 day subscription...)
When is Amazon Prime Day?
Finally, we have official confirmation from Amazon: this year's event will start on July 16th and last for a 36 hour period, continuing into July 17th ( just as the graphic banner promising 'an epic day (and a half) of our best ever deals' which was accidentally published on the UK site last month suggested...) So, mark your calendars and set your alerts accordingly: while a day and a half is plenty of time to browse the deals, we'd certainly recommend moving fast, as the best ones are unlikely to stick around for long...
What Amazon Prime Day deals can I expect?
Details of Amazon's deals are usually kept under wraps until Prime Day itself, so it's hard to speculate ahead of time, but you can certainly expect a host of exclusive deals and promotions across the site's categories, from fashion and beauty to electricals and entertainment. Many of the best deals are on own-brand Amazon products and services: so if you've had an Echo, a Fire stick or a Kindle languishing in your basket for weeks, now is the perfect time to invest. To whet our appetites, the online shopping giant has started to tease the main event with a handful of early deals...
4 months of Amazon Music Unlimited for 99p: Given that just one month of Amazon's Spotify equivalent would typically set you back £9.99, this is a pretty major saving.
3 month free trial of extra Amazon channels: Discovery, BFI, Shudder and MGM: There's no better time to test out Prime's add-on streaming channels.
3 month free trial of Kindle Unlimited: Perfectly timed for all your holiday reading needs, a Kindle Unlimited trial offers access to over 1 million books on your tablet or smartphone.
30 percent off Amazon Fashion's exclusive labels: Truth & Fable, find and Iris & Lilly will be included in the Prime Day fun for the first time, each brand offering a discount of 30 percent. Find the deals at amazon.co.uk/primedayfashion.
What happened on Amazon Prime Day 2017?
Last year’s event took place in 13 countries worldwide and saw over 100,000 new deals posted across the 30 hour period, which gives you an idea of the scale we can expect from 2018.
How do I get Amazon Prime in the UK?
Signing up for Amazon Prime is pretty simple: just head to amazon.co.uk/amazonprime and enter your details for a 30 day free trial, which includes unlimited free next day delivery (with same day options available in some areas), unlimited music streaming and access to thousands of films and TV shows through Prime Instant Video . Once those 30 days are up, you'll be automatically charged £7.99 per month if you choose to continue with the subscription.
Keep checking back for more Amazon Prime Day news...