Image: bob Al-Greene / mashable
The time has finally come, people: We know when Prime Day is going to be, and it’s soon.
Amazon previously confirmed that the two-day online shopping extravaganza would happen sometime in June following rumors that it might take place in July, but we now have official dates for when you’ll be able to dive into those sweet, sweet deals.
When is Prime Day?
Mark your calendar for June 21 and 22.
Amazon confirmed via a press release that Prime Day 2021 will begin on Monday, June 21 at 12 a.m. PT (3 a.m. ET), and conclude on Tuesday, June 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT (2:59 a.m. ET).
Amazon’s official Prime Day landing page is now live, and will be updated with more details (and perhaps some information on what deals to expect) as we count down the days to the big event. We expect this page to be updated regularly leading up to shopping extravaganza.
The return to a summer timeframe for Prime Day is a not-totally-unexpected but a welcome surprise. Last year, Amazon was forced to push the event from July to October after multiple delays that stemmed from issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. While it certainly wasn’t the worst of our problems, having Prime Day occur so close to Black Friday after a year of exponential stress was a little much. We love our shopping holidays, but one right after another can be rough on the bank account. Trust us, having some distance from the chaotic holiday shopping season is a good thing for all parties involved.
Why isn’t Prime Day in July?
Many speculated that the two-day shopping event would return to its usual summer launch, but anticipated that it would once again happen in July. So, the announcement of a June Prime Day understandably shook things up. Don’t expect this to be the new normal for Amazon, though — the main reason they’re avoiding this July is to get out of the way of direct competition with the Olympics.
A brief history of Amazon Prime Day
Amazon Prime Day has become one of the most important shopping holidays next to Black Friday, but hasn’t been around for nearly as long. Prime Day made its debut in 2015, and was a monumental success for the company. The event has become even more of an online shopping juggernaut each year since then, resulting in Amazon extending Prime Day by six hours in 2017, another six in 2018, and then officially becoming a two-day event in 2019 (with 2020 and 2021 following suit). If that’s any indication of Prime Day’s future, maybe one day we’ll have Prime Week on our hands.