Three years ago, Amazon.com Inc created a summer shopping holiday out of thin air for its most loyal customers. That airspace is considerably more crowded today as its rivals jockey to grab deal-hungry online shoppers.
Retailers Target Corp, Best Buy Co, Macy’s Inc and Walmart Inc all have special promotions planned to coincide with Amazon’s Prime Day, which begins at noon in Seattle on Monday and runs for 36 hours in 17 countries. In a bid to distance the event from the Amazon brand, some companies are calling the day “Black Friday in July”. And while their deals on merchandise vary, the pitch is the same: No membership fee required.