6 tips to make the most of Amazon Prime Day

Hit the Amazon website or the mobile app between 2 and 6 pm. It’s Happy Hours time - the time to snag the best deals across categories. (Photo by Anirudh via Unsplash)

It’s been eight years since ‘Black Friday’ found an online equivalent. Amazon first launched its Prime Day Sale in the US in 2015 to coincide with its 20th anniversary. India joined the Prime bandwagon in 2016; the first Prime Day Sale in India lasted 30 hours in 2017. It’s now a two-day affair, a weekend shopping binge of sorts where online shoppers scurry for deals driven by high levels of FOMO. The 2023 Edition of Prime Day is scheduled for July 15 and July 16. Amazon has already raised the pitch for this online shopping binge with a promise of 45,000+ new product launches. Gadgets and home electronics are the dominant category during Prime Day. But the question most Indians inevitably ask is - Is this a ‘genuine’ sale and can you really score great deals? We try and break it down for you.

Who’s it for

The Sale is only open for registered Amazon Prime members. Amazon has just announced a Prime membership deal with a 50% cashback offer for both annual and monthly subscriptions. This means you can get the monthly membership for Rs 149 if you meet Amazon’s age criteria. You can also explore the option of a free trial.

1. Pre-plan

If you’ve been waiting for Prime Day to make some big-ticket purchases, it’s worth spending time planning ahead. You can opt for an Amazon Pay-linked lifetime free credit card that might give you extra rewards and other benefits. But don’t do this unless you don’t mind adding another card to your wallet and you see value in the overall offering. Also look for new product launches that might meet your needs.

2. Make a shopping list

Online sale shopping is a lot like what we’ve experienced at destination stores and outlet malls. We’re always likely to be sucked into the deal environment. One way of steering clear of this is to make a shopping list. It’s the old needs-vs-wants game. Try and bring the same skills you use while grocery shopping on apps – assuming you don’t fall for deals here.

3. Wear your research hat

Once you have your shopping list, it’s time to do some serious research. List the features that matter to you, the brands you are comfortable with and then start looking for the right product for you. If you’re looking for a smartphone, or earbuds or a TV, you will find that products from 2022 or even 2021 might make the cut. Ultimately it boils down to the features that matter to you and not the launch date of the product. Do check the fine print for product warranty terms and service back up.

4. How to find the real deal?

Not all markdowns you see on online shopping platforms are genuine. In quite a few cases, the original prices may be inflated or reflect a launch price that may not have ever been the selling price of that product. The key is to compare across other online sales platforms and also the brand sites. Also keep checking the Amazon site during the Prime weekend for lightning deals that you can take advantage of. You can save time by using the left sidebar and set search filters across product categories using variables like price or feature.

5. Stay happy

Remember to hit the Amazon website or the mobile app between 2 and 6 pm. It’s Happy Hours time. No, there are no drinks on the house, but this is the time to snag the best deals across categories. This also includes offers from Amazon Pay on movies, travel and more. We’ve found that the early deals are sometimes the best and also sell out quite fast. If you have an Alexa device, it’s a good time to use voice search and ask Alexa to hunt for deals.

6. Apply the same offline smarts

This is the tough part. We are all suckers for deals at sales. It’s that time when we end up buying things that we probably didn’t need. We start to then invent use-case scenarios to sell to our significant other or deal with our own version of retail cognitive dissonance. This is a good time to turn back the clock and look at products you were not proud of buying at sales.

Don’t just buy a product because it’s cheap. Try and beat this with a clear plan for Prime Day and a budget for your shopping list. That’s easier said than done. It’s also usually a case that most of us go through as consumers – “I don’t know what I want, but I want it now”.