With the extended Prime Day 2025 now spanning four days, sellers must carefully analyze whether deep discounts will produce meaningful profit or simply liquidate inventory for minimal gain.
The extended Prime Day 2025 presents a significant logistical puzzle for sellers. While a four-day sales event offers more opportunities to connect with customers, it also amplifies the challenges of inventory management, especially with Amazon’s tighter storage limits.
Seeing early deals go live while knowing your own stock is constrained can be incredibly frustrating. The fear of running out of your best-selling items halfway through the event, or being stuck with overstock on less popular products, is a major concern.
This logistical strain is worsened by heightened competition, not just on Amazon but from rival sales at other major retailers. Navigating this complex environment requires more than just aggressive pricing; it demands a strategic approach to operations and profitability.
We will explore whether the potential sales lift from the extended Prime Day justifies the operational hurdles and what sellers must consider to make it a genuinely successful event for their brand.
The Realities Behind the Extended Prime Day 2025
Amazon’s decision to stretch Prime Day 2025 across four days, from July 8 to July 11, marks a significant change from previous years. While projected global sales may exceed $13 billion, the extension also brings operational and profitability challenges for sellers.
From an eComCatalyst episode, several key issues were identified that sellers need to prepare for:
Profit Margins Under Pressure
To remain competitive, sellers often discount products by 20% to 40%. This boosts volume but frequently leaves little room for actual profit, turning Prime Day into more of an inventory-clearing event than a revenue generator.
Sales Momentum May Flatten
The new 96-hour format risks weakening the buyer urgency that shorter events typically drive. With more time to shop, customers may delay purchases, causing sellers to see steadier, but not necessarily stronger, sales throughout the event.
Tighter Inventory Limits Complicate Prep
Amazon has reportedly reduced July storage limits for many sellers compared to June. This makes it harder to stock enough inventory ahead of Prime Day and may push sellers to consider using Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), which introduces additional costs and logistics complexity.
Missed Official Deal Submissions
Sellers who didn’t submit their Lightning Deals or Best Deals by Amazon’s internal deadlines are excluded from official placements. However, they can still run Prime-exclusive discounts or manually adjust pricing to take advantage of increased traffic.
Late-Night Daily Deals
A new “Today’s Big Deals” feature will drop each night at midnight Pacific Time. While intended to keep momentum high, the 3 AM Eastern release may limit early engagement from East Coast shoppers.
New Seller Considerations for Prime Day 2025: Promotions, AI, and Pacing
As sellers weigh the operational strain and rising competition of Amazon Prime Day 2025, they also face a dramatically evolving selling environment. From Envision Horizons, three key shifts stand out that Amazon sellers and agencies must consider to stay competitive during the four-day event.
A Longer Yet Intense Selling Window
The shift to a 96-hour format will require sellers to rethink staffing, deal pacing, and ad scheduling. What used to be a concentrated 48-hour surge is now a prolonged but equally demanding period, with sellers expected to maintain performance across all four days.
New Promotional Thresholds and Deal Badges
Amazon is reportedly offering special promotional placement and badges for products discounted at 40% or more. This raises the bar from previous years, where 20–30% discounts were often enough for visibility, and presents a challenge for brands trying to balance visibility with profitability.
AI-Driven Deal Discovery
For the first time, AI tools are expected to significantly shape how customers find deals. Amazon’s own shopping assistant, Rufus, is now a core factor in product discoverability, and external AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are becoming part of the buyer journey, meaning listings must be optimized beyond traditional search.
Changing Traffic and Buying Behavior
Buyer urgency may flatten across the extended timeline, with early spikes likely leveling into steadier sales during days two and three. Sellers should prepare for a final-hour push on day four, as Amazon typically drives traffic with reminder notifications and last-chance messaging.
To stay competitive, sellers must be ready with enough inventory to meet late-event demand and should ensure their ad budgets remain flexible to accommodate last-minute surges.
With changes in promotional structure and buyer behavior, success during extended Prime Day 2025 will require more than deep discounts. It will demand strategic planning across pricing, visibility, and operations.
Sellers should take time now to discuss goals with their teams or Amazon agency partners and build a clear plan to navigate the four-day event efficiently.
Amazon"New this year, Amazon introduces Today's Big Deals - themed daily deal drops featuring some of the most exciting deals of the event, exclusive to Prime members."
Extended Prime Day Faces Retail Competition from Walmart and Target
While sellers prepare for the logistical and margin pressures of Amazon’s extended Prime Day 2025, another layer of complexity comes from outside the platform. Competing sales events from Walmart and Target will run during the same week, drawing shopper attention and potentially splitting consumer spending.
From Retail Dive, Walmart and Target have both scheduled aggressive promotions overlapping with Prime Day. Walmart Deals will run July 8–13, and Target’s Circle Week will span July 6–12, both offering early access to their respective paid loyalty members.
- Walmart+ members receive access starting the evening of July 7, with discounts available online and in stores, marking the first time physical locations are included in the event.
- Target Circle 360 members can shop early beginning July 5, with a focus on back-to-school savings and exclusive product bundles.
Both retailers are promoting deep discounts on electronics, home decor, school supplies, and holiday pre-orders. Target is also maintaining 2024 pricing on certain school items and offering a one-time 20% storewide discount for students and teachers, along with a 50% discount on its annual Circle 360 membership.
Walmart and Target’s extended sale durations closely mirror Amazon’s four-day Prime Day event, amplifying the competition. Although Prime Day remains exclusive to Prime members, the broader accessibility of Walmart and Target promotions may attract shoppers looking for value without a subscription.
With more retailers offering parallel discounts and early access incentives, Amazon sellers may find themselves competing not just within the platform, but across the retail landscape. This shift could affect overall sales velocity, particularly for categories like back-to-school and electronics, which are prominently featured in all three events.
