Specialty retailers are rolling out October sales to compete with Amazon
Specialty retailers are dishing out deals on everything from basketballs to bookshelves to compete with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, which kicks off on Tuesday.
That same day, electronics retailer Best Buy is launching a 48-hour flash sale featuring “top deals on TVs, gaming devices, laptops, monitors and more.” Meanwhile, sporting goods retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods is throwing a sales event from Oct. 7 to 9 with discounts of “up to 50%.” From Oct. 5 to 7, furniture retailer Wayfair offered free shipping and discounts on more than 1 million items for its Way Day sale. And from Oct. 4 to 5, crafting retailer Joann put fleece and yarn on sale to appeal to those looking to make blankets for the holidays.
Historically, November has been the kickoff of the holiday sales season. However, in recent years, more sales have started to creep up in October as retailers have sought to keep up with Amazon. In 2020, Amazon moved Prime Day (which historically took place in July) to October due to Covid-related supply chain delays. Then, in 2022, Amazon started consistently holding a second Prime Day in October. The event, while still new, is already gaining traction; in 2023, Amazon said sales from the event outpaced the previous year’s.
Big-box players like Walmart and Target were among the first to host their own sales to match Amazon’s fall Prime Day. This year, Walmart is holding a fall sale from Oct. 8 to 13, up two days in length from last year. Target’s promotion, meanwhile, runs from Oct. 6 to 12 and includes a greater number of holiday items in the $5-to-$10 range than last year. Now, more specialty retailers are also getting in on the action — and the sales keep happening earlier and earlier. Best Buy and Wayfair, for instance, offered similar sales events last fall but moved the dates up this year — by two days for Best Buy and 20 days for Wayfair.
Andrew Lipsman, an independent analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce, told Modern Retail that Amazon’s competitors likely need to hold deals to stay relevant in October. “October Prime Day is a new shopping tentpole, and because tentpoles concentrate shopping activity during those times, that’s where demand is higher,” he said. “Every retailer essentially needs to get into the act.”
This is especially important, Lipsman said, considering that Cyber Five makes up a smaller portion of overall holiday sales today than it did five years ago. EMarketer predicts that Cyber Five — or online sales during the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — will account for 15.5% of total holiday e-commerce sales this year, down from a high of 20% in 2019. That percentage has been on an “ongoing decline” since 2019, per eMarketer.
This can have repercussions for retailers, especially if they decide not to offer October deals, Lipsman said. “If you sit out the other tentpole that is pulling consumer spending forward, you’re going to take a haircut on your Q4 sales,” he explained. “I don’t think retailers can afford to do that.”
In general, the holiday deals calendar looks different from five or 10 years ago. Shoppers are increasingly spacing out their holiday shopping to get a head start on deals. This year, 32% of consumers said they planned to start shopping for the holidays in July through November — up from 2022 (31%) and 2023 (28%) — according to a survey from Gartner. Meanwhile, Bankrate found that 48% of shoppers planned to begin their holiday shopping by August and September.
Retailers that want to appeal to these shoppers are under pressure to step up summer and fall promotions. Not all of these deals are created equal, though. And for shoppers that are watching their spending closely, the terms of these deals could be make or break.
Some retailers are also using these promotions to drive more membership sign-ups or get more people to join their loyalty program. Amazon’s October sale, for instance, is limited to those who sign up for Prime, which starts at $14.99 per month or $139 per year. On the other hand, Wayfair’s Way Day sale is open to all Wayfair shoppers — although it is offering additional deals to Wayfair Professional members. Dick’s Sporting Goods’ flash sale is also fee free and includes top brands like Nike, Adidas and New Era Cap. CVS — which is hosting a fall wellness sale through Oct. 12 — requires shoppers to be ExtraCare card members to get discounts on wellness products, but that program is free to join.
Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy at technology solutions provider CI&T, said that she has mixed feelings about October sales. On one hand, consumers are very sensitive to discounts and deals right now, she explained. But she also thinks retailers have to weigh a certain amount of risk when it comes to back-to-back promotional events.
“To create all these events early, you’re kind of competing against yourself as much as you’re competing against other brands,” Minkow said. “If you give away all your margins right now, will you be able to give anything away in November and December? If retailers can [afford to], then I think it’s smart, but I think you have to be really strategic about when you’re offering those deals.”