However the most recent holiday season was different. "Since Amazon introduced a monthly pay option, Amazon has often seen a jump in monthly memberships in the December quarter," said Mike Levin, co-founder of CIRP, online grocery in a statement. "For the first time in four years, the percentage of annual memberships increased in the holiday shopping quarter. In other words, in the December quarter new and renewing members took advantage of the lower annualized cost of a yearly membership, and with that made a longer commitment to Amazon Prime. CIRP estimates that there are 142 million Prime members in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven many shoppers online, driving soaring e-commerce sales. The increase in annual Prime members comes as eMarketer forecasts a continued surge in e-commerce sales around the world. According to a January report, eMarketer estimates global e-commerce sales of $4.28 trillion in 2020, up 27.6% from 2019. Experts expect 14.3% growth in 2021 to $4.89 trillion. "We anticipate that consumers will maintain many of their newfound digital behaviors in 2021," said Ethan Cramer-Flood, author of eMarketer’s "Global E-Commerce Update 2021" report.


Still, Amazon is poised to take a hefty slice of that pie. And in that quarter, Amazon set a sales record of $96.1 billion. "After several quarters of slower growth, grocery delivery consumers joined Prime at a rate last seen more than four years ago," said Josh Lowitz, CIRP co-founder, in a statement. With more shoppers heading online to purchase goods including groceries, home furnishings and clothing, fulfillment has taken on increased importance. Amazon’s delivery options and benefits stand out for many consumers. Target Corp. TGT, -0.15%, for example, has talked up the bottom line benefits of giving customers the option to head to a store to pick up an online order, with 95% of the retailer’s online sales during the holiday season fulfilled in using a bricks-and-mortar location. And many retailers, like Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY, -8.43%, have added services like curbside pickup in recent months. In order to compete, retail executives are turning more of their attention to the ways in which technology can keep them competitive by improving areas across the supply chain like inventory management and distribution centers. "The pandemic has hyper-accelerated the digitization of retail. Retailers can no longer rely on brand, grocery store near me product and price alone," said Omar Akilah, vice president of commerce at Blue Yonder, in a statement from its "Future of Fulfillment Research" report. Blue Yonder is focused on the digital supply chain and multi-platform order fulfillment. Amazon stock has gained 75.4% over the last year. 1.33% is up 15.8% for the period.


When is Amazon Prime Day? What is Amazon Prime Day? Is Amazon Prime Day for everyone? What Prime Day deals can I expect? Amazon Prime Day (opens in new tab) the retail giant's biggest sale of the year, will be here before we know it. The annual sale celebrates the online retailer's founding date with epic deals. Other than setting a placeholder, Amazon has yet to confirm Prime Day 2023's dates. What we do know when we look back at Prime Day history, the annual deals extravaganza typically occurs in July. Prime Day 2022 was held on July 12-13 so we suspect Prime Day 2023 will run from July 11-12. We also expect Amazon to confirm Prime Day 2023's dates as we get closer to the summer. Prime Day is one of the most anticipated shopping events for bargain shoppers. Whether you're a Prime Day membership holder or not. If you're frugal like us or want to beat the back-to-school rush, don't miss Prime Day 2023. Prime Day 2023 will be one of the best times of the year to net steep discounts on today's best laptops, tablets, monitors, gaming gear and more.


In some instances, Prime Day deals undercut or match prices we typically see on Black Friday. Best Buy and Walmart typically stage their own summer savings event alongside Amazon. We saw similar sitewide manufacturer sales from Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and Samsung. Expect more of the same during Amazon Prime Day 2023. Last year, Walmart's summer sale offered fantastic discounts on our favorite laptops like the HP Envy 13 Laptop for just $499 (opens in new tab) ($200 off). Meanwhile, Best Buy's Black Friday in July sale (opens in new tab) offered tons of Prime Day alternative deals on back-to-school gear. Learn more about Prime Day, what deals to expect, and browse last year's Prime Day 2022 deals below. When is Amazon Prime Day? The official date of Amazon Prime Day is unknown, however, Prime Day 2022 ran from July 12-13. Our Prime Day 2023 prediction guesstimates this year's sale will takes place on July 11-12. Although Prime Day 2022 exact start date is unknown, we expect Amazon to make an announcement as we get closer to its big summer sale. This data w​as g enerat​ed  by GSA Con tent  G en erator  DE MO​!