Amazon Announces Third Annual 'Prime Day' for July 11

Following the debut of "Prime Day" in 2015, and its return in 2016, Amazon this morning announced the third annual Prime Day will arrive next month, on July 11. Amazon calls this year's event an "epic day of deals on everything you're into," and like previous iterations you'll have to be subscribed to Amazon Prime to gain access to the discounts.

Prime Day is expanding this year as well, beginning officially on July 10 at 6 PM PT and lasting a total of 30 hours into July 11, with "new deals as often as every five minutes." Additionally, Amazon has expanded the sale to 13 total countries in 2017, including the U.S., U.K., Spain, Mexico, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium and Austria.

To give a spotlight on small businesses throughout Prime Day, Amazon said that nearly 40 percent of the Lightning Deals that appear during the event will come from small businesses and entrepreneurs.

“Our members love Prime Day and we have been thrilled by the response over the last two years. It is inspiring us to make it even better this year for Prime members,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President, Amazon Prime. “Every part of our business is working to deliver more deals for a record number of shoppers. This year’s Prime Day is too big for 24 hours – so we’re giving Prime members 30 hours to shop!”

Deals will be organized by more than 20 themes, including topics like pet lovers, gardeners, techies, artists, and more, so shoppers can quickly find items that they're interested in. To entice users to engage with Alexa devices, Amazon is introducing even more Alexa-exclusive deals discoverable through Echo devices and Fire Tablets.

Similar to last year, Amazon is touting its TV deals in 2017, saying that a large variety of brands will be sold on Prime Day and specifically naming the new Element 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV - Amazon Fire TV Edition. Amazon said that Prime Day 2017 will represent "one of its largest volume TV deals in history," with a record amount of inventory, but Amazon reminded shoppers the TV category is the one likely to sell out the fastest.

To prepare, Amazon encourages shoppers to visit the Amazon app on iOS [Direct Link] to preview, track, shop deals, and set up alerts. Leading up to July 11, the company is also offering discounts on various subscriptions and items across the website every day, and starting today that includes discounts related to Amazon Music Unlimited, Prime Video, Kindle Unlimited, Audible, and Prime Pantry items. More information about the items on sale now can be found on Amazon's Prime Day webpage.