Light Hearted

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have long marked the traditional kickoff to the year-end holiday shopping sprint. But over the last few years, October has rapidly emerged as a major new shopping period thanks to sales events like Amazon Prime Day and competing deals from other retailers. 

Amazon held the first Prime Day in 2015, and it has grown into a monster event driving over $11 billion in sales across two days this year. Other retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy have followed suit with their own October sales aimed at capturing consumer spending ahead of Black Friday.

Here is how the October calendar looks like

• Amazon – Prime Big Deal Days (October 10-11). This is a new, additional Prime Day-like event.
• Walmart – Walmart has the “Rollbacks & More” sales event on October 9-12, directly overlapping with the Prime Big Deal Days. They offer similar discounts and deals on a wide range of products.
• Target – Target runs the “Target Circle Week” from October 1-7th, just before the Prime sale. They advertise it as their “biggest savings of the season.”
• Best Buy – Best Buy has a “48 hour Flash sale” overlapping Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days on October10th and 11th.
• eBay – eBay has a Fall Savings Event in October with sitewide discounts and promo codes to encourage shopping on eBay instead of Amazon.
• Kohl’s – Kohl’s promotes having the lowest prices of the season during the Prime days to lure shoppers.

These October deals are changing the dynamics of holiday shopping in several key ways:

Earlier Start – October sales and deals are pulling holiday shopping demand forward. Consumers are getting a head start rather than waiting for Black Friday weekend. Retailers are capitalizing by offering deep discounts earlier.

Rise of Online Shopping – October deals cater heavily to online shopping, which continues to gain share over in-store purchases. Free shipping and convenience drive this trend.

Christmas Creep – Retailers continue to push holiday promotions earlier each year. Prime Day and other October sales are essentially “Christmas creep” personified, as holiday marketing and deals invade earlier.  

FOMO Buying – Scarcity and fear of missing out cause consumers to buy more in October rather than waiting for possible better deals later. Retailers bank on this FOMO.

 Member Hook – Amazon uses Prime Day to highlight Prime membership benefits and attract more subscribers. Competing retailers aim to hook deal-seeking customers as well in October.

While Black Friday remains a huge in-store retail event, the rise of October online sales has essentially added a new “opening month” to the holiday shopping season. Consumers can now expect nearly three full months of holiday deals and advertising. 

For retailers, an emerging “October Prime Day” sales bonanza means more revenue, shopping data, and customer acquisition ahead of the always competitive peak November-December period. 

The October shopping frenzy looks here to stay as retailers compete fiercely to kick off holiday spending as soon as possible. For consumers, it means more early bird deals if you want to get ahead on holiday shopping. Otherwise, your wallet may take an extra beating this season.